OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Oklahoma City has been officially approved to host 2028 Summer Olympics softball and canoeing competitions.
The Los Angeles City Council approved LA28’s request for Olympic competitions to be held in Oklahoma City in 2028.
LA28 is in charge of the the 2028 Olympics. The entity designated Riversport Rapids as the location for Canoe Slalom competitions, and the Adventure District’s Devon Park for the softball competitions.
“The Los Angeles City Council voted today to approve LA28’s venues proposal, and we are incredibly grateful to the Council for its consideration and approval,” said Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt. “We accept this opportunity with the highest sense of obligation. With that final approval today, it is now official. Two sports from the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles – Softball and Canoe Slalom – will be staged in their entirety in America’s 20th-largest city. This is really happening. The Olympics are coming to OKC.”
The Los Angeles City Council’s vote in late March, which was unanimous, was the final step in designating Oklahoma City’s participation in the next Summer Olympics.
“Now that this is official, our work in Oklahoma City can truly begin,” Holt said. “Hosting these events goes far beyond the venues. It is quite possible that Oklahoma City could have competitions taking place throughout the full duration of the Los Angeles Olympics, which will become clear as LA28 works to finalize their competition schedule in the coming months. This endeavor in July of 2028 will be a community effort that will pull all 700,000 of us together for the next three years in a shared mission. Each of us who lives here now has the opportunity to welcome the world to Oklahoma City and to write a unique chapter in our city’s story.”
LA28 selected Oklahoma City for the competitions because Southern California lacks a Canoe Slalom venue and does not have a softball venue that seats more than 2,000 people, according to Olympics officials.
“Instead of undertaking additional construction projects to build temporary venues for these sports, LA28 will assign Canoe Slalom and Softball competitions to the world-class venues in Oklahoma City,” Olympic officials said last June. “Both the Canoe Slalom and softball venues in Oklahoma City are built to international competition standards, ensuring a high-quality experience for athletes and fans, while allowing LA28 to realize cost savings and revenue gains to support its balanced budget.”
Conversations that led to the selection of the Oklahoma City venues began in 2018 with then-Mayor Eric Garcetti, and continued with Mayor Karen Bass, the city’s current leader.
“We have a great respect for the global capital that is Los Angeles, and we have full confidence that L.A. will deliver the greatest Summer Olympics in the history of the games. We would have been proud to simply share a country with such a city, but we have the opportunity to do more than that. We get to directly support L.A. and its work for years from now, and that is something we are very excited to do,” Holt said in June. “We are inspired by LA’s careful planning and vision for the 2028 Summer Olympics, and we look forward to partnering with LA28 to deliver a dynamic experience for the athletes and fans of Canoe Slalom and softball. We guarantee that our city will deliver a special, unique and memorable experience worthy of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.”
The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber will lead OKC’s portion of the Olympics.
“The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber has been a strong, strategic and trusted partner of the city for many years, and I believe that we are uniquely equipped and positioned to lead our community on this effort,” Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Chairwoman Teresa Rose said in June. “This would be a significant partnership with LA28 to create a dynamic environment for athletes in these two sports, to create an experience in a competition in world class venues in an environment fitting of Olympic athletes.”
Partnership will underpin the Greater OKC Chamber’s Olympic efforts, according to Rose.
“The City of Oklahoma City, the two venues and actually numerous other community partners will be critical to our success. Once approved, we will develop a detailed plan of the execution that meets all of the needs and the requirements of LA28 partner,” she said. “This is a tremendous opportunity to bring attention to our city from around the world, and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this success.”
