As the curtain falls on tonight Paris Olympicswith a spectacular closing ceremony as promised by the organizers, the clock is starting to count down to the next event, that of 2028, which will host the Los Angeles.

According to the schedule, the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Olympics will be held on July 14, 2028, and the closing ceremony on July 30.

The opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games will take place on August 15 and the closing ceremony on August 27.

In total, more than 50 Olympic and Paralympic sports will be played in more than 800 events.

Los Angeles is hosting the Olympics for the third time, and organizers – touting their sustainability credentials – are pledging that no new, permanent structures will be needed for the event.

Instead, dozens of existing venues will be used, including the home of the LA Galaxy soccer team and the LA Memorial Coliseum, which has hosted sporting events in both previous editions.

Perhaps unsurprisingly in a city renowned for its coastline, beach volleyball is expected to be hosted on an actual beach – something that was not possible this year in Paris.

However, some areas will need to be adjusted. For example, SoFi Stadium, as it is now known, in suburban Inglewood, will be converted to host the swimming events, with the addition of a glitzy Olympic-sized pool.

At the same time, the University of California (UCLA) student residences will be transformed into an Olympic village and provide facilities for training.

From a sustainability perspective, it remains to be seen whether Los Angeles can complete the Games “without cars” as it promised in 2017 when it won the Games.

Moving thousands of spectators around the sprawling California city is a huge challenge for organizers, who are pinning their hopes for car-free transport on a fleet of buses after plans to expand and upgrade the rail network fell through, according to Los Angeles Times.

This will not be cheap, writes the BBC.

The latest budget calls for nearly $7 billion in spending on the Games themselves, on top of what is spent on upgrading transportation.

Which sports stay and which go

In addition to the most well-known Olympic sports, the Los Angeles Games will see the revival of some events, while there will also be some new additions.

  • Cricket will be an Olympic event for the first time since 1900. Britain will have a chance of medaling as they have some of the world’s top cricketers
  • Lacrosse is also making a comeback. Despite being one of the oldest sports played in North America, lacrosse has not been played at the Olympic level for more than a century. A new format will be introduced in 2028
  • Baseball/softball, played by men and women respectively, will also return, having been omitted from Paris in 2024
  • Squash is set to make its first Olympic appearance after years of campaigning by enthusiasts
  • Flag football will also make its debut at the 2028 Olympics. It is a non-contact version of gridiron football, played on a smaller field with smaller teams, in which tackles are made by removing a flag from the opponent. It is the fastest growing variation of the sport in the UK, according to the British American Football Association
  • There will also be Paralympic climbing with athletes in different categories climbing a 15m wall using handholds

Some other Olympic sports that are relatively new will continue, such as surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing.

But the breakingwhich debuted at the Paris Games, was not selected, to the dismay of some, since the dance of this genre originated on the streets of the US.