With the IOC approving six additional sports to appear at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games – Baseball, Cricket, Flag Football, Lacrosse, Squash, Softball – here’s what you can expect from each sport.
Lacrosse
Fast Facts
- Team / Individual: Team Sport
- Aim of the Game: Score more goals than the opposition
- Olympic Format: Six-a-side ‘Sixes’
- Match Length: 32 minutes (four eight-minute quarters)
- World Ranking (AUS): Women 3rd & Men 6th
Lacrosse is a contact team sport, where each team can have six or 10 athletes a side depending on the format. Players try to sling a rubber ball into the opposition goal using one stick each with a net on its end. Nets are used to carry, pass, catch and shoot - with only goalkeepers allowed to touch the ball with their hands.
The sport has been played in Australia since the 19th century. At the 2023 World Lacrosse Men's Championship event in San Diego, USA, Australia was one of 30 teams from around the world to compete. The Aussies, ranked no.4 entering the event, played the Haudenosaunee just fell short of a bronze medal in losing 11-6.
The format being included in the 2028 Olympics is the six-a-side or ‘sixes’ version, which is played on a 70m x 36m pitch featuring goals 10m in from the end boundary lines.
Teams are made up of one goalkeeper and five outfield players on the pitch at any one time. Six substitutes are available on the bench for teams to use during the four eight-minute quarters.
The 30-second shot clock is unique to Lacrosse sixes, making it a faster paced version than the 10-a-side game.
After 32 minutes of gameplay (about an hour in real time) the team with the most goals wins. Ties are settled by playing four-minute sudden death overtime periods until a goal is scored.
Foul play can be penalised by sending a player to the penalty box for 30 seconds (minor infringement) or 60 seconds (major infringement).
Olympic History
Lacrosse is not new to the Olympic Games. It was staged at the 1904 and 1908 Olympics (pictured below).
Absent for some time until it became a demonstration sport for the Amsterdam 1928, Los Angeles 1932 and London 1948 Games - now Lacrosse is embarking on a return to the Olympic Games that's been 80 years in the making.
Only three nations have competed in Lacrosse at the Olympic level - Canada, Great Britain and the United States - with Canada the only nation to secure the gold medals in 1904 and 1908 (medals are not tallied for demonstration sport events).
Learn More
Check out Lacrosse Australia.
Cricket
Fast Facts
- Team / Individual: Team Sport
- Aim of the Game: Score more runs than the opposition
- Olympic Format: Twenty20
- Match Length: 20 overs each side
- World Ranking (AUS): Women 1st & Men 5th
Twenty20 cricket is on for the LA 2028 Olympics. It follows the return cricket made to the Commonwealth Games at Birmingham 2022, where a women’s Twenty20 competition was held. Australia won the inaugural gold medal, defeating India in the final by seven runs.
Prior to 2022, a men's 50-over cricket tournament was played at the Kuala Lumpur 1998 Commonwealth Games where South Africa won the gold and Australia got silver.
Australia currently has the highest ranked T20I women's side in the world, while the men's team is the fifth best T20I nation.
Olympic History
Test cricket was played between Great Britain and France at the Paris 1900 Olympic Games, but it was not a first class match. Cricket will make its first class debut at Los Angeles 2028.
Learn More
Check out Cricket Australia.
Flag Football
Fast Facts
- Team / Individual: Team Sport
- Aim of the Game: Score more points than the opposition
- Olympic Format: Five-a-side
- Match Length: 40 minutes (two 20 minute halves)
- World Ranking (AUS): Unknown
Sharing many similarities with American football, the aim of Flag Football is to move the ball into the opposition’s ‘endzone’ to score points. It is however a non-contact sport, with tackles replaced by removing one of three ‘flags’ that are attached to a fabric belt on each player’s waist.
There are five players on each team on the field from the 12-person squads. Players often specialise in either offence or defence.
A Flag Football field is 70 x 30 yards (64m x 27.4m) with 10 yards (9.1m) allotted to each of the two endzones. Each match consists of two 20-minute halves and if the scores are tied after 40 minutes, sudden-death overtime is played until points are scored.
Next week Australian Flag Football history will be made, when Australia competes in an international event for the first time. An Australian men's team and women's team have been entered in the Intercontinental Cups in Malaysia next week.
Flag Football started out as a means of recreation for American soldiers during World War II, who then brought the game back with them.
National Football League icon Tom Brady played Flag Football as a primary school student.
Olympic History
Flag Football will make its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028.
Learn More
Check out Gridiron Australia.
Baseball (men)
Fast Facts
- Team / Individual: Team Sport
- Aim of the Game: Score more runs than the opposition
- Olympic Format: Nine-a-side
- Match Length: Nine innings each
- World Ranking (AUS): 10th
Baseball is played between two teams taking turns batting and fielding.
Batters run from base to base around the diamond, after hitting the ball. The fielding team also has a pitcher, who throws the ball towards the batter to generate play.
The objective is to score the most runs in nine innings. Each team's turn at bat ends when three of its batters strike out or are given out.
If the score is tied after nine innings, the teams play another inning at a time until one team leads.
At the 2023 Baseball World Championships Australia achieved their best ever result, making the quarter-finals for the first time and finished seventh overall.
Olympic History
Baseball became a full medal sport at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, having been a demonstration sport six times prior (including Melbourne in 1956).
In Barcelona and Atlanta 1996, Baseball was only open to amateur players but by Sydney 2000 professionals were permitted to compete. Cuba was the dominant force in Olympic baseball winning the gold in 1992, 1996 and 2004.
At the IOC meeting on 7 July 2005, Baseball and Softball were voted out of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. Then 11 years later, the IOC approved the return of baseball and softball to the Olympic program for Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021).
The Australian Baseball men did not qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Games. Australia’s first and only Olympic baseball medal came at Athens 2004, silver.
Learn More
Check out Baseball Australia.
Softball (women)
Fast Facts
- Team / Individual: Team Sport
- Aim of the Game: Score more runs than the opposition
- Olympic Format: 9-a-side
- Match Length: Seven innings each
- World Ranking (AUS): 9th
With softball developed after baseball, there are many similarities between the two.
The aim of the game is to advance batters from base to base around the diamond, after hitting the ball. In softball the ball is thrown towards the batter underarm, while in baseball it is thrown overarm.
A run is scored each time a batter makes to back to the home plate. The fielding team tries to get a batter or runner out and this can happen when a third strike ball is caught by the catcher; when a batter hits a ball that is caught on the full by any of the fielders; or when a batter or runner is beaten by the ball to one of the bases, or is tagged off base.
Each team has a maximum of 15 players and 9 players take the field in each game, except when a designated hitter is used, in which case there are 10.
Games last seven innings. If scores are level at the end of seven innings, the tiebreak rule is enforced whereby the player scheduled to bat ninth starts the innings on second base. A mercy rule exists whereby if a team trails by more than 10 runs in the fifth inning or thereafter the game is stopped.
Olympic History
Softball was granted Olympic status in Atlanta in 1996.
At the IOC meeting on 7 July 2005, Baseball and Softball were voted out of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. Then 11 years later, the IOC approved the return of baseball and softball to the Olympic program for Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021).
Australia had competed and won medals at every edition of Olympic Softball from 1996 to 2008 (silver in 2004 and bronze in 1996, 2000, 2008).
The Aussie Spirit returned to the Olympics at Tokyo 2020 and played in Softball’s round-robin fixtures.
Learn More
Check out Softball Australia.
Squash
Fast Facts
- Team / Individual: Individual Sport
- Aim of the Game: One-on-one racket sport; first to three Games wins
- Olympic Format: Game – first to 11 points; Match - first to three Games
Squash is most commonly played by two opponents on a rectangular court with a rubber ball, measuring 9.75m x 6.4m, surrounded by four walls. Doubles events are also held.
On the front wall, there are three lines - the tin 48cm off the ground (lowered to 43cm in professional play), the service line (at a height of 1.78m), and the out line (at 4.57m which slopes down on the side walls to 2.13m on the back wall).
At the start of a point, the server must serve from one of the two service boxes and strike the ball between the service line and the out line.
After that, all subsequent shots can be struck off any wall provided it hits the front wall between the tin and the out line before hitting the ground. The ball is only permitted to bounce once on the floor. The first player or duo to 11 points - with at least a two-point advantage - wins a game. A point is scored on each rally, with the serve going to the winner of the point. The first to three games takes the match.
A Commonwealth Games sport since Kuala Lumpur 1998, Australia has won an outstanding 11 Squash gold medals at the Commonwealth Games level.
David Palmer is a nine-time Commonwealth Games medallist (three gold, two silver and four bronze between 2002-2018) and Rachael Grinham an eight-time Commonwealth Games medallist (two gold, two silver and four bronze between 1998-2018), pictured below.
Australia had eight athletes compete in Squash at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Olympic History
Squash will make its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028, however appeared as a demonstration sport at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.
Learn More
Check out Squash Australia.
