In Olympia, Greece, many years ago, hundreds of outstanding legends were born. These were not just scientists, philosophers, or mathematicians, but also track stars, javelin throwers, and amazing boxers.
Athletes from all over came together to compete against each other all representing their own cities. These great matches against each other were known as the Olympics, a tribute of competitiveness to the Greek god Zeus held every 4 years until eventually outlawed by Christianity. Eventually, they returned to modern day in 1896 for the Summer Olympics where the Games were held in Athens, Greece. Only 12 nations competed against each other within 9 competitions such as track and field, tennis, fencing and wrestling. Fast forward to today where we have a total of 55 sports in which 206 nations compete for a gold medal whether it be in the Winter Olympics or the Summer Olympics.
With hundreds of nations competing today and 55 sports, you’d think that not much more can be added to the Olympics, however the International Olympic committee announced that they plan to continue adding more sports as long as the games continue. Recently, the committee announced that they would be adding 6 more sports for the 2028 Olympics, these being cricket, baseball, softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash.
All of these sports (except flag football) have had an opportunity to appear in the Olympics at least once, but this time they are permanently staying in the Olympics for as long as the summer Olympics occur.
Flag football will make its first appearance in the games in a 7v7 playstyle in a much less aggressive way then how American football is typically played with 11 players where tackling is allowed and aggressive contact. Instead, it’s simple to pull the flag of an opposing player with the ball and they will be stopped where the flag is pulled.
Lacrosse is also making a huge leap this will be the first time the sport will be held in the Olympics since 1908 and will include the Haudenosaunee as their own nation. The Haudenosaunee, a group of Native American lacrosse players will represent Native Americans which created the sport in 1636.
When talking to Fruita senior Eliot Johnston about the new additions in the Olympics, he said, “I think it’s really cool that new sports are being implemented into the games, especially since it will help the growth of the sports continue to spread especially when displayed on a global level.”
With these new sports being added Johnston is absolutely right it will give all of these sports a better chance to display the excitement within each sport and give a great opportunity for growth. The new additions are beyond exciting to see and the world can’t wait to see what sports will be added next.
Mason Compton walking the CMU lacrosse practice field.
(Picture by Calista Cripe)
