Baseball will become the first major league to participate in the LA Olympics, with the medal race expected to be as competitive as the WBC’s.
Baseball is set to return to the Olympic program after a seven-year absence. The inclusion of baseball at the 2028 Los Angeles Games will allow Major League Baseball players to compete in the Olympics for the first time.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved five new sports – baseball and softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash – proposed by the Los Angeles 2028 Organizing Committee at its Executive Board meeting in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday.
The final decision will be made at the IOC Session in Mumbai on July 15-17. The five sports were approved by the Executive Board, the highest decision-making body, and are expected to be approved by the Session.
IOC President Thomas Bach said: “The choice of five new sports is linked to America’s sporting culture. They will showcase iconic American sports to the world.”
World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) President Flackery said in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, according to Japan’s Kyodo News, “We have received a document from Major League Baseball confirming the participation of top players if baseball is included in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The players’ associations are also in agreement.”
The WBSC has apparently sought the cooperation of Major League Baseball to bring baseball back to the Games. Flackery was optimistic that “baseball is a top candidate for the LA Olympics.”
“If realized, it would be the first time in Olympic history that a top Major League Baseball player could compete,” he said, according to Kyodo News. It would also allow Shohei Ohtani, who helped Japan win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) last spring, to play in the Olympics. Details, such as whether the (Major League Baseball) season will be suspended, are pending.”
If baseball returns to the Olympics in Los Angeles, and the WBSC works closely with Major League Baseball to ensure a strong major league presence, 온라인카지노 the medal race could be as fierce as it was at the WBC in March.
The WBC featured major league players representing their respective countries, with Japan defeating the United States in the final to win the title. Mexico and Cuba advanced to the quarterfinals. South Korea was eliminated in the first round. Latin American countries such as the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela have produced many major leaguers.
South Korean baseball will face stiff competition as it attempts to win its first Olympic gold medal in 20 years. Baseball was first recognized as an Olympic sport at the 1992 Barcelona Games after being featured as a demonstration sport at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Games.
It was included five consecutive times – in Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008 – before being dropped in baseball-barren London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016. It was reinstated in 2021 for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but was dropped again for the 2024 Paris Games. The sport will return to the Olympic program for the first time in seven years at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, which will be held in baseball’s home country of the United States.
South Korea won the gold medal in Beijing in 2008 with Kim Kyung-moon leading the team to a nine-game winning streak. The United States’ only previous gold medal without a Major League Baseball player came in 2000. Japan won gold at Tokyo 2020.