Squash, Flag Football Olympic Debut

Olympic officials approved five additional sports to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Games at its annual session yesterday. The 33-sport program will now feature cricket, lacrosse, baseball and softball, as well as the Olympic debuts of squash and flag football.

Squash is played in over 150 countries and is inexpensive to field; its inaugural inclusion gives Egypt—which dominates the sport—a window to add to its eight all-time Olympic gold medals. The NFL, the world's most lucrative sports league,

campaigned for flag football's first-ever showing to increase American football's popularity worldwide. Lacrosse, the oldest sport in North America, last played in the Olympics in 1908, and cricket's 1.4 billion fans will see the sport at the Games for the first time since 1900. Baseball and softball participated in 2020 but aren't included in Paris 2024.

Relatedly, the International Olympic Committee will keep boxing on the program in 2028 after it withdrew recognition of the International Boxing Association for compliance issues in June, a rare move.