LA 2028

Discover how the Los Angeles Candidature Committee describes their vision for the Games and the legacy they plan to leave behind:

For centuries, people have been following the sun to California – to a coastal paradise of beautiful weather, inspiring landscapes and an ocean of possibilities. Since it was first settled, LA – the City of Angels – has built a culture of progress by harnessing creativity and imagination for reinvention. Today, LA 2028 is inviting the world to follow the sun on a journey of sport and innovation destined to help transform the Games to: 

• Deliver the ultimate personalised experience for the Athletes
• Maximise our existing sports infrastructure to ensure a sustainable long-term legacy 
• Produce a fresh blend of sport and entertainment to help refresh the Olympic brand worldwide and capture the imagination of youth
• Reignite America’s passion for the Olympic Movement for generations to come
• Embrace the principles of Olympic Agenda 2020 through fiscally prudent Games that deliver enduring benefits to the host city and the Olympic Movement 

As a symbol of our vision, we will utilise LA’s brightest star, the sun. The sun not only shines on the thousands of athletes who live and train in Los Angeles, it serves as a powerful ally in the search for a more sustainable Games. 

Today, the sun lights the Olympic flame. Tomorrow, it will ignite an energy revolution. By following the sun, LA 2028 will help reimagine a New Games for a New Era.

Harnessing California’s unique culture of creativity and innovation, LA 2028 will create a citywide celebration that propels the Olympic Games to new heights. LA 2028’s Games concept leverages the city’s existing array of world-class, modern infrastructure and the latest in temporary venue technology to create a sustainable, fiscally responsible and exciting Games plan for 2028.  

Situated on a wide hilly coastal plain, Los Angeles is one of the most geographically diverse cities in the world with picturesque mountains, vibrant canyons, verdant valleys and world-renowned beaches. Bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the south and west, LA stretches from the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains to the north down to the San Gabriel Mountains to the east, with canyons and valleys that are home to a vast array of wildlife and natural wonders. LA is characterised by its consistent climate and cheerful sunshine that draw millions of people from around the world to pursue their dreams.

The opportunity to host the 2028 Olympic Games has already catalysed LA’s community. Hundreds of partners are excited to promote the extraordinary values the Olympic Games stand for, and the values LA holds dear, including sustainability in all of its forms – social inclusion, economic benefit and environmental stewardship.

LA 2028’s vision for the Games is to create a grand partnership among the city’s stakeholders that sets the standard for sustainable mega-events everywhere, and makes that knowledge universally accessible and applicable. The guiding principle behind this vision is to “work with what exists”. LA 2028’s Games concept uses 100 per cent existing and temporary venues with plans to reuse or return all temporary and overlay materials to their natural state — a revolutionary concept that will extend beyond the Games.

LA 2028 will work towards hosting the first “Energy Positive Games” by generating more energy through renewable sources and energy efficiency efforts than the energy needed to power the Games. The candidature has already commenced discussions with LA’s venue operators, regional utility partners, tech innovators and the region’s 18 million residents to meet this goal.

Finally, LA 2028 will accelerate the city’s ambitious goal of achieving zero waste through its venue operations and overlay reuse strategy. This will be accomplished by partnering with venues to develop robust recycling programmes that apply best practices from LA’s existing stadiums, including the LA Memorial Coliseum – the largest National Football League stadium to achieve zero waste. 

ATHLETE’S VIEW

Q&A with Allyson Felix, athletics

A native Angeleno, Allyson Felix is the most decorated female Olympian in track and field history, with a total of nine Olympic medals. 

How would the sustainable Games plan benefit the athletes of your community?

“LA 2028’s Games plan was built with sustainability as a core pillar and this will translate to significant benefits for the thousands of Olympians and community sport organisations in Southern California. LA 2028’s guiding principle is responsibility: that means to work with what already exists, and this means everything from world-class venues to LA’s robust network of over 2,000 youth sports organisations, including the LA84 Foundation. Leading up to the Games, LA 2028 will form a Youth Sports Committee to work with these existing organisations, in a joint endeavour to bolster their own programming and curricula around sport and healthy living, with unique content provided by the organising committee in collaboration with the Olympic Education Commission. After the Games, a 2028 Legacy Foundation will continue this work by distributing sports assets including swimming pools, equipment and funding.”

* Text, images and illustrations provided by LA 2028

Los Angeles 2028’s slogan, Follow the Sun, is an evocative call to action for all of humanity to embrace optimism, reinvention and the promise of a better tomorrow.

LA’s brightest star, the sun, is a metaphor for progress and happiness, and our slogan is based on these unique aspects of our city. LA 2028 wants to partner and work closely with the Olympic Movement to create a New Games for a New Era.

Our emblem is inspired by the original Spanish name for Los Angeles, “the City of Angels”, given by the city’s first 44 settlers – “los pobladores” – who were African, Native American and Spanish. Our founders’ diversity and belief in a better tomorrow is central to our culture and our angelic figure. Athletic, dynamic and youthful, complementing the progressive, future-focused vision of the LA 2028 candidature, she ascends into the inspirational sunlight of the city.

The figure is illuminated, lifted and empowered by the rays of LA’s year-round sunshine, which emanate from a sparkling point of light at the figure’s heart – a palette of colours often seen in the city sky both at dawn and sunset.

LA began as the most ethnically diverse city in America and remains so to this day. This convergence of cultures led to the shape of the angel and its array of colours, and emphasises LA 2028’s true benefit: unity.

* Text, images and illustrations provided by LA 2028

On 11 July, the 130th IOC Session unanimously agreed in principle to award both the Olympic Games 2024 and 2028 simultaneously, paving the way for a “win-win-win” situation for the Olympic Movement, Los Angeles and Paris.

This historic decision initiated a period of constructive discussion between the IOC and the two Candidate Cities, resulting in Los Angeles declaring its candidature for the Olympic Games 2028 followed by a Tripartite Agreement and the release of the Host City Contract 2028 on 31 July.

The Tripartite Agreement, ratified by the IOC Session in Lima on 13 September 2017, led to the simultaneous election of Paris as Host City of the Olympic Games 2024 and Los Angeles as Host City of the Olympic Games 2028 which IOC President Bach termed “a golden opportunity” for the IOC, Los Angeles and Paris.