The Olympic rings on display on the Bastille Square in Paris FILE - The Olympic rings on display on the Bastille Square in Paris. Photo: J-F Rollinger/AFP
T20 cricket is one of five new sports that have been approved for the 2028 Olympic Games, due to be held in Los Angeles in the United States.
The new sports were approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2023.
The 2028 games will see cricket return to the Olympics for only the second time. The only other time the sport was played was at the 1900 games in Paris, where Great Britain defeated hosts France to win the gold medal. They were the only teams competing.
At the 1904 games in St Louis four years later, cricket was scrapped due to a lack of entries. And as a result, the sport would be excluded for the next 128 years.
There was a movement to get cricket back into the Olympics, however, this failed to gather any momentum thanks to opposition by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
However, a 2020 proposal by USA Cricket to have the sport included in Los Angeles was backed by both the ECB and BCCI, and was later approved by the IOC.
The 2028 games in the United States will also see the inclusion of America’s favourite pastime, baseball for men, and softball for women.
Like cricket, baseball made its first appearance at the 1900 games in Paris, but has continued to feature regularly. It’s been played in all but three — 2012, 2016, and 2024 — Olympic games since 1984.
Flag football, lacrosse and squash are the other new sports that will feature. Lacrosse was last played at the 1948 games in London, while flag football and squash will make their first-ever appearance.
Breakdancing, which made its first-ever appearance at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, has been excluded going forward. It made a viral debut to the Olympics when videos of Australian breakdancer Raygun — where she scored zero points — were shared across social media.
This will never not be funny. 🤣 #Raygun pic.twitter.com/6hOKMyOue9
— Nara Hodge (@Nara_Hodge) August 12, 2024
Various reports claimed it was the criticism of the sport after the Australian’s performance that led to it’s removal. However, the ICO have said that’s not the case.
"It's up to each local organising committee to determine which [additional] sports to put forward that fit with their vision of the Games. Obviously, breaking fit very clearly with Paris' vision of a very youth-focused urban engagement,“ IOC's sports director Kit McConnell was quoted to have said.
Organisers for the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane have been working to have breakdancing included.
IOL Sport