What Olympic events are coming to LA in 2028 and why is breaking not on the list?

Despite breaking being a breakout hit of the Paris Games last week, the sport will not be returning to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

The decision was actually made years ago not to include breaking. In 2022, the International Olympic Committee initially announced 28 sports had been approved for the LA Games — leaving breaking off the list. Then in 2023, the IOC approved an additional five sports: baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash.

In October 2023 — ahead of the Paris Games — the governing body of breaking, World DanceSport Federation, put out a statement addressing the sport being left out of the LA Games.

“While profoundly disappointed with the LA28 decision, the WDSF is proud of all that it has accomplished, together with the breaking community, in an extremely short amount of time,” the statement reads, in part, noting the organization’s “strong” relationship with the IOC.

The statement continues on, noting that breaking “is not the first sport to be included at one edition of the Olympic Games and then be excluded from the next.”

“For example, baseball-softball and karate took part in Tokyo 2020 and were subsequently overlooked for Paris 2024,” the WDSF statement reads. “Like breaking, karate had not yet made its Olympic debut before being excluded at the following edition of the Games.

“The WDSF is working hard to ensure that breaking is included at the Olympic Games Brisbane 2032, just as softball-baseball has returned to LA28 after missing out on Paris 2024.”

In an email to TODAY.com, an LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games spokesperson said the decision to not include breaking “came with a great deal of consideration and utmost respect for the sport, its athletes and fans.”

“While LA28 recognizes the value that breaking can bring to the Olympic Movement, we ultimately proposed a holistic and balanced package of new sports that prioritizes the ability to showcase quintessential American sports alongside influential global sports,” the spokesperson said. “The LA28 Olympic sports line-up also highlights the unique opportunity to co-create with major professional leagues, while offering a platform for new sports and new athlete communities to compete on the global stage in 2028.”

What sports will be at the 2028 LA Games?

So far, a total of 36 sports have been approved to take part in the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028. Below is a list of the approved events and the international governing bodies in parenthesis.

1. Archery (World Archery Federation )

2. Track and field (World Athletics)

3. Badminton (Badminton World Federation)

4. Baseball (World Baseball Softball Confederation)

5. Basketball (International Basketball Federation)

6. Canoeing (International Canoe Federation)

7. Cricket (International Cricket Council)

8. Cycling (Union Cycliste Internationale)

9. Equestrian (International Equestrian Federation)

10. Fencing (International Fencing Federation)

11. Flag football

12. Soccer (Fédération Internationale de Football Association)

13. Golf (International Golf Federation)

14. Gymnastics (International Gymnastics Federation)

15. Handball (International Handball Federation)

16. Hockey (International Hockey Federation)

17. Judo (International Judo Federation)

18. Lacrosse

19. Modern pentathlon (International Modern Pentathlon Union)

20. Swimming (International Swimming Federation)

21. Rugby (World Rugby)

22. Rowing (World Rowing)

23. Shooting (International Shooting Sport Federation)

24. Sailing (World Sailing)

25. Surfing (International Surfing Association)

26. Skateboarding (World Skate)

27. Sport climbing (International Federation of Sport Climbing)

28. Softball (World Baseball Softball Confederation)

29. Squash

30. Taekwondo (World Taekwondo)

31. Tennis (International Tennis Federation)

32. Table Tennis (International Table Tennis Federation)

33. Triathlon (World Triathlon)

34. Volleyball (International Volleyball Federation)

35. Weightlifting (International Weightlifting Federation)

36. Wrestling (United World Wrestling)

How many athletes compete in the Olympic Games?

The IOC generally prefers to limit the number of athletes at a Summer Games to 10,500 people, the Associated Press reports.

The additional four team sports will likely push the IOC to extend its limit and pressure on the core Olympic sports to cut their allowed number of athletes, according to the AP.

The IOC has set a target of early 2025 to confirm final quotas.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com