World Aquatics achieved a significant milestone for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board officially approved adding six new events—the men’s and women’s 50m backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly—to the LA28 Olympic sports programme.
This decision follows last week’s approval by the Olympic Programme Commission of World Aquatics’ proposal to include all strokes in the 50m distance. On Wednesday, the IOC Executive Board unanimously endorsed the proposal, marking a significant expansion of Olympic swimming events.
With this move, swimming will feature 41 medal events at the Olympic Games for the first time, an increase from the 35 medal events at Paris 2024 and Tokyo 2020. Across all five Olympic aquatic disciplines—swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming, and open water swimming—there will now be 55 medal events at LA28, the most ever for any sport at an Olympic Games.
World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam hailed the decision, calling it a ‘landmark moment for swimming and the Olympic Games.’
“Today’s decision is a testament to the continued evolution of swimming at the Olympic Games. Including these six new events enhances the programme’s balance and adds more opportunities for athletes to showcase their skills on the world’s biggest stage. We thank the IOC for their support in expanding Olympic swimming and can’t wait to watch these incredible athletes compete under the Southern California sky and stars in SoFi Stadium.”
