Provisional list of sports for 2028 LA Olympics: Boxing, Weightlifting left out

A list of twenty eight sports will be proposed for inclusion in the 2028 LA Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said in a press release on Thursday. These 28 sports do not include cricket - as some had hoped - and neither do they include boxing and weightlifting, which could be potentially have far-reaching effects on India's future at the Olympics.

The list of 28 sports for LA 2028 that were discussed by the Executive Board (EB) of the IOC and will be proposed at the IOC Session in February 2022:

Athletics

Rowing

Badminton

Basketball

Canoeing

Cycling

Equestrian

Fencing

Football

Golf

Gymnastics

Handball

Hockey

Judo

Wrestling

Swimming

Rugby

Taekwondo

Tennis

Table Tennis

Shooting

Archery

Triathlon

Sailing

Volleyball

Surfing

Skating

Sport Climbing

Future for boxing, weightlifting

Two of India's 7 medals at Tokyo 2020 came in weightlifting and boxing - Mirabai Chanu's silver and Lovlina Borgohain's bronze. Vijender Singh, Mary Kom (boxing) and Karnam Malleswari (weightlifting) are India's previous Olympic medallists in these sports. The non-inclusion of these two sports would hit India hard.

However, the IOC has left room for a potential pathway for the inclusion of these two sports in its February 2022 session if the respective federations take some specific steps. IOC President Thomas Bach said boxing federation AIBA must change its judging and refereeing system, increase financial transparency and diversify its revenues.

Weightlifting, which has been rocked by revelations of doping cover-ups and decades of corruption that have led to charges against top federation officials, must address a change in culture and major doping issues.

"AIBA must demonstrate that it has successfully addressed the ongoing concerns around its governance, its financial transparency and sustainability, and the integrity of its refereeing and judging processes," the release said.

"The IWF and its future leadership must demonstrate its transition towards compliance and an effective change of culture. Furthermore, they must successfully address the historical incidence of doping in the sport and ensure the integrity, robustness and full independence of its anti-doping programme," it added.