Two Sports at Los Angeles Olympics to Be Held in Oklahoma

Organizers for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles announced Friday that two sports, canoe slalom and softball, will be held two time zones to the east in Oklahoma City. Southern California has no venue for canoe slalom, they explained, and the largest stadium there for softball has a capacity of just 2,000. Holding these events in Oklahoma City rather than constructing facilities on the West coast aligns with the International Olympic Committee’s efforts to promote sustainability, organizers said. Both locations in the Midwest state “are built to international competition standards, ensuring a high-quality experience for athletes and fans, while allowing LA28 to realize cost savings and revenue gains to support its balanced budget,” they added. Devon Park, which holds 13,000 spectators and hosts the Women’s College World Series, lies within the USA Softball Hall of Fame complex. Canoers will compete at Riversport OKC on the Oklahoma River. The announcement of an expanded distance between an Olympic host city and a competition venue isn’t unprecedented, as surfing during next month’s Paris Olympics will occur nearly 10,000 miles away in Tahiti, an island in French Polynesia.