With Paris packed away in the memory files, the attention of Summer Olympians and the fans that flocked to Paris turn now to Los Angeles and 2028. Tom Cruise riding out of the Stade de France on a motorbike heightened awareness that while one of the joys of Paris was the ease of using public transport between venues, LA has a deserved reputation as a city where the car is king.
So, in a world where sustainability is so important, and following a Paris Games that had it front and centre stage, how can LA change the dial on this one?
Sometimes, in the wake of a great success, we can all get a little carried away, and when the Mayor of Los Angeles announced she hoped to make LA28 a ‘car-free games’, it raised eyebrows of those among us who have been there.
But let’s go with it and see what is being proposed.
“No-car Games means that you will have to take public transportation to get to all the venues. To do that, we have been building out our transportation system,” said the Mayor.
“That’s a feat in Los Angeles – we’ve always loved our cars. But we’re already working to ensure we can build a greener Los Angeles.”
Staggered working hours and the encouragement of a return to teleworking for the two weeks of the games are also being encouraged early.
One of the wins from Paris that will be repeated in LA is the use of existing stadiums, reducing the need to build new facilities that might struggle to find a use, as has often been the case in past games.
The LA Coliseum will be the main stadium for the Athletics but not for the opening Ceremony, which will take place in the more technologically advanced SoFi Stadium, home to the LA Rams and the LA Chargers.
This will also double down as the swimming stadium, allowing the greatest number of fans to support the swimming.
Transitioning to that after the opening ceremony, though, will mean a flip in two of the traditional elements of the games, with athletics switching to the first week and swimming to the second.
One sport that will not get the LA experience is Canoe Slalom, which is to be staged in Oklahoma City, 1,500 kilometres away, because of the existing facility there but not in California.
Making the Games more sustainable again will be a challenge, but the Olympics are the occasion where sport can be the key to unlocking real advances. Being just down the admittedly long road from Silicon Valley, we look forward to tracking how this all develops over the next four years.
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