The Summer Olympics will return to a familiar location in 2028: Los Angeles, where they will be held for the third time.

As usual, the International Olympic Committee has given the green light to several new (and old) sports for 2028 and removed another from the program list presented in Paris.

Los Angeles last hosted the Games in 1984, when Mary Lou Retton captured America’s heart and broke that of Romanian gymnast Ecaterina Szabo by scoring a perfect “10” on the final vault to win the gold medal in the women’s all-around at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus. “Perfect or completely awful,” one reporter summed up her options.

Of course, gymnastics, like other major international events – such as athletics, aquatics, basketball, volleyball, wrestling, cycling and fencing – will be part of the 2028 Olympic Games.

Flag football and squash were allowed for the first time in Los Angeles, while baseball, softball, lacrosse and cricket are returning after varying lengths of absence. Lacrosse has not been an Olympic sport since 1908. Cricket has been played once, in Paris in 1900.

Breakdancing and perhaps boxing will be eliminated. According to the IOC, the previously optional sports of skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing will become permanent events from 2028.

The proposed budget for the 2028 Games is $6.8 billion, according to Chairman Casey Wasserman, and will be entirely funded by the private sector.

Flag football, squash debut

Flag football will feature a medal competition for men and women, with teams playing 5-on-5 on a 50-yard field, the IOC said. Offensive linemen are not allowed.

The World Squash Federation had been trying to include the sport in the games for years before getting the OK for Los Angeles. Squash is a racket sport, like the Olympic disciplines tennis and badminton, but is played on a covered court with four walls.

Both sports are considered optional and may not resume at the 2023 Games in Brisbane.

Baseball, softball, lacrosse and cricket are back

Baseball was added as a permanent sport at the 1992 Barcelona Games and dropped after 2008 before making a one-off comeback in Tokyo in 2020. Cuba won three of the first four gold medals, with the United States breaking its winning streak in Sydney in 2000. South Korea and Japan won the previous two gold medals. IOC officials expect it to stay in Brisbane.

Softball has been part of the Olympic Games five times, most recently in 2020 when host Japan won its second consecutive gold medal. The first three times the United States won. In Los Angeles, softball will be an optional sport, although the competition will be held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which also hosts the NCAA Women’s College World Series.

Lacrosse will consist of six-a-side tournaments and medals will be awarded for the first time in 120 years. Canada has won the only two gold medals, in 1904 and 1908. The country’s B team won bronze in 1904 and the sport was abolished after Canada and Great Britain were the only participants in 1908.

Great Britain is the only ever cricket gold medalist. It won at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris. Great Britain and France were the only participating teams.

Boxing on the floor?

Boxing is not yet permitted in Los Angeles. The IOC has withdrawn recognition from the International Boxing Association (IBA) because it failed to address financial and governance reforms. In addition, the IBA was not involved in the last two Olympic Games.

The IOC has postponed a decision on whether to include the sport in the association until 2025, pending the formation of a new governing body. Boxing was introduced in 1904 and has been part of the medal program since 1920.

B-Boys and B-Girls, disappear

The so-called breakdancing sport – “Breaking” – threatens to become a one-hit wonder after its introduction in Paris.

Cruising is not on the program at the Los Angeles Games and sport officials fear that funding problems could prevent it from resuming in Brisbane.

Breaking is said to have its roots in the South Bronx in the 1960s. Among the 33 participants from 16 countries in Paris were four Americans. The Japanese Ami Yuasa won the first gold medal on Friday.

“Breaking is my expression,” Yuasa said. It’s an “expression, an art, but I want to say that breaking could also be part of the sport.”