With the curtain set to fall on an exhilarating summer of sport over in Paris, attention will soon turn to the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The glamorous Southern Californian city is due to welcome the world’s best athletes to town in 2028, 44 years since it last staged the summer Games.
Once the closing ceremony is wrapped up in France on Sunday – with Hollywood star Tom Cruise rumored to feature and take the baton from the previous hosts – LA can finally begin its preparations for four years’ time.
So what can fans expect at the next Olympics over in California?
DailyMail.com has taken a look at the sports, venues, celebrities and athletes likely to feature at the 2028 Games.
With the Paris Games almost over, attention will soon turn to the next Olympics in Los Angeles
Sporting shake-up
The LA Olympics will be bringing back some old sports and debuting new ones in 2028, with cricket set to make its return after a 128-year absence.
Cricket’s sole appearance at the Olympics came all the way back in 1900, yet in four years’ time the world-famous bat-and-ball game will be revived in a six-team tournament.
However, it may take place some 2,000 miles from LA over in New York, which is expected to stage matches after also hosting a handful of T20 World Cup games this year.
Also returning to the Olympics in 2028 are baseball and softball, two sports that were dropped for Paris after appearing at the 2020 Tokyo Games, while lacrosse will be played for the first time in 120 years.
A number of new sports are also gearing up for their long-awaited Olympic debuts, including flag football – a non-contact version of American football.
There is a hope that NFL superstars will be involved in the first ever flag football competition at the Games, the league’s Players Association confirmed earlier this year.
‘The players want to do it. We’re supportive of the players wanting to do it,’ union president Lloyd Howell Jr. said back in February. ‘So, we’re all for it.’
Cricket is returning to the Olympics in 2028, with matches set to be staged 2,000 miles away in New York after the city hosted T20 World Cup games this year
NFL stars like Travis Kelce are likely to feature as flag football makes its debut at the Games
Though it remains to be seen whether boxing is still an Olympic sport in four years’ time
Howell went on to admit that there are a few hurdles to overcome, including training camp dates overlapping with the Olympics and potential injuries to star names.
Yet fans may well see the likes of Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts – who recently starred in a promotional video to announce flag football’s inclusion for 2028 – at the LA Games.
Squash will also debut in four years’ time, though it remains to be seen if boxing is still an Olympic sport by the time the next one comes around, with a new federation needed to run it after the International Olympic Committee severed ties with the International Boxing Association.
Historic venues
SoFi Stadium, home to the Los Angeles Rams, will hold the biggest swimming event in Olympic history at the LA Games, with up to 40,000 fans expected to pack out the 70,000-seater arena.
Swimming competitions typically draw crowds of around 15,000, meaning SoFi promises to more than double that figure if everything goes to plan.
Meanwhile, gymnastics will take place over at Crypto.com Arena, where LeBron James and the Lakers basketball team ply their trade – along with the Sparks (WNBA) and the Kings (hockey).
SoFi Stadium, home to the Los Angeles Rams, will hold the biggest swimming event in Olympics history in 2028
Track and field events are set to be held at the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which has already been refurbished ahead of 2028
As for track and field events, they are set to be held at the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which has already been refurbished ahead of 2028.
The Coliseum was the main venue of the 1984 Olympics, with USA’s Carl Lewis sweeping up four gold medals in the men’s 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long-jump events at the prestigious venue.
Along with SoFi, both arena will stage parts of the opening and closing ceremonies in four years’ time.
Oklahoma City, 1,300 miles from LA, is scheduled to host the softball and canoe slalom events, while beach volleyball and 3×3 basketball will take place along the beachfront in Santa Monica and Venice, albeit subject to potential changes.
A-listers in town
Given he is slated to feature at this weekend’s closing ceremony in Paris, you can bet your bottom dollar that Tom Cruise will be a regular fixture in the crowd throughout the 2028 Olympics in LA.
And Cruise will almost certainly be joined by a host of Hollywood stars as they look to grab a piece of history.
Tom Cruise is expected to receive the baton from current hosts Paris in Sunday’s closing ceremony, meaning he is likely to be a regular fixture at the LA Olympics
The likes of Leonardo Di Caprio and Blake Lively are also LA natives, meaning they too could attend events at the Games
Some of the most famous actors and actresses from LA include Leonardo Di Caprio, Jake Gyllenhaal, Blake Lively and Angelina Jolie.
Reality star Kim Kardashian is also an LA native, meaning she too could make an appearance, along with music icons Miley Cyrus, Will.i.am and Billie Eilish.
Retired sports legends from the city who could attend some events also include basketball great Magic Johnson and hockey royalty Wayne Gretzky.
Which American athletes will be there?
Barring injury, USA sprint sensation Noah Lyles will almost certainly head to his third Games in LA after winning the 100m gold in Paris this summer.
And having missed out on a famous double in the 200m, Lyles can have another crack at becoming only the eighth man in history to win both races at the same Olympics.
The likes of Gabby Thomas, Sha’Carri Richardson and Kenny Bednarek are also expected to head to another Games in 2028.
It is unclear whether gymnastics superstar Simone Biles will make it to California, however.
After her historic outing at the Paris Games, where she became the most decorated American gymnast of all time by winning three gold medals and a silver, Biles hinted that she may well have competed in her final Olympics at the age of 27.
Noah Lyles will almost certainly head to his third Games in LA after winning the 100m gold in Paris this summer
But it is unclear whether gymnastics superstar Simone Biles will make it to California
‘The next Olympics is at home, so you just never know,’ she told reporters out in France. ‘But I am getting really old.’
Her teammates Suni Lee, 21, and Jordan Chiles, 23, are certain to be there, nevertheless, while LSU and TikTok sensation Olivia Dunne could even be a USA gymnast by the time 2028 comes around.
The LA Olympics will likely come too late for men’s basketball legend LeBron James, who will be 43 at the time, but women’s superstars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are slated to be there after being left out of USA’s roster in Paris.
Dodgers baseball phenomenon Shohei Ohtani could well be involved in LA, but it remains to be seen whether 32-year-old Aaron Judge remains at the top of his game in four years’ time.
