2028 Olympics in OKC

[Pete]

That's not true, the 2008 Beijing Olympics had events in Hong Kong, Qingdao and Shanghai

Okay, it was possible but you had to go through a long process to get approval.

That is no longer the case.

[G.Walker]

Another problem will be getting more upscale hotels. Those who go to these events aren't poor, and likely would want to stay in nice, top-notch hotels.

I agree, OKANA will be online by then, but we still need another 500+ room hotel. OMNI can't handle it all, and we have to remember, this will be during the summer months, so those hotels will be already be somewhat booked. Would hate to see OKC get denied based on hotel shortage and lack of accommodations.

[Pete]

I agree, OKANA will be online by then, but we still need another 500+ room hotel. OMNI can't handle it all, and we have to remember, this will be during the summer months, so those hotel will be already booked. Would hate to see OKC get denied based on hotel shortage and lack of accommodations.

Dream Hotel would be done by then, and that's well in progress.

And we still have over 5 years.

[G.Walker]

^
Yes, so when officially announced, let's hope OKC gets in gear. This is a the same situation that happened with SLC when they hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. People thought they couldn't handle it. But they got in gear quick. Their TRAX Light Rail system was developed specifically for their Winter Olympics, and its in still good use today. This was over 20 years ago. Hopefully OKC can see the glass half full.

[kevin lee]

I wonder if they are considering holding the BMX events in Tulsa at the Hardesty National BMX Stadium?

https://www.usabmx.com/tracks/2011

How in the world is there BMX but no softball?

[Anonymous.]

Imagine the streetcar getting a special Olympic extension off the Bricktown loop that goes Reno to Lincoln, down into the Boathouse District. You could even have a special inside-stop underneath I-235 that can snipe the conglomerate of hotels that are east of Bricktown and the Interstate Exchange.

[Pete]

How in the world is there BMX but no softball?

The hosting city has a lot to say about which of the newer sports to the Games get included.

Paris is doing break dancing for crying out loud.


Softball was in Tokyo mainly due to the Japanese obsession with it and baseball (which was also included).

[Pete]

Imagine the streetcar getting a special Olympic extension off the Bricktown loop that goes Reno to Lincoln, down into the Boathouse District. You could even have a special inside-stop underneath I-235 that can snipe the conglomerate of hotels that are east of Bricktown and the Interstate Exchange.

They'll just do rubber-tired shuttles buses.

Super easy and efficient.

[Swake]

The hosting city has a lot to say about which of the newer sports to the Games get included.

Paris is doing break dancing for crying out loud.


Softball was in Tokyo mainly due to the Japanese obsession with it and baseball (which was also included).

BMX has been in the Olympics since 2008 and 2028 will be the sports 8th games.

[bigsmooth]

Channel 4 just ran a story about this and stated “ As first reported by The Oklahoman and THEN OKC Talk …..”. SMH

[Pete]

Channel 4 just ran a story about this and stated “ As first reported by The Oklahoman and THEN OKC Talk …..”. SMH

Good grief.

And they are the best of the bunch.

[baralheia]

Imagine the streetcar getting a special Olympic extension off the Bricktown loop that goes Reno to Lincoln, down into the Boathouse District. You could even have a special inside-stop underneath I-235 that can snipe the conglomerate of hotels that are east of Bricktown and the Interstate Exchange.

While I do love this idea, there are a few things that would *greatly* complicate such an extension. First and foremost, this proposed streetcar extension would need to cross the Union Pacific railroad tracks on Reno. It's not unheard of for streetcar or light rail lines to cross freight rail lines at-grade, but there is often a lot of friction between the freight rail companies and the transit operators that make this really difficult. For instance, in Tampa, FL, the TECO Line streetcar line crosses an active CSX freight rail line just east of Tampa Union Station; when the TECO Line was built, CSX demanded the transit operator maintain a $500 million insurance bond in case of accidents. As I understand it, later that demand was dropped in favor of using CSX employees to pilot the streetcars through the crossing (paid for by the transit operator, of course) - and then later still that demand was dropped in favor of protecting the crossing with automatic signals. However, it took a long time to reach that point. I'd expect UP would likely push for similar restrictions to cross their line here.

In addition, the Lincoln Blvd bridge over I-40 would need to be assessed to determine if the current structure could support the weight of a streetcar - and to further complicate matters, I'm honestly unsure if our streetcars could negotiate the steep grade of the bridge without stalling out.

These issues are not insurmountable but the costs could add up quickly and make the line untenable. Adding a short, temporary bus circuit here might be the better option.

[Pete]

The OKCTalk Facebook post on this subject has received 650,000 views, and still counting.

Over 200,000 on Twitter. Over 100K on Instagram.

Probably end up reaching over 1 million people. Amazing.

[Just the facts]

That's not true, the 2008 Beijing Olympics had events in Hong Kong, Qingdao and Shanghai

Just for reference, During the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 events were held in multiple places from Washington D.C. all the way to Miami. I had soccer tickets for Orlando but wasn't able to go at the last minute. Even Birmingham, AL had events. What will be interesting is where the award ceremony is held.

[Bellaboo]

Just for reference, During the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 events were held in multiple places from Washington D.C. all the way to Miami. I had soccer tickets for Orlando but wasn't able to go at the last minute. Even Birmingham, AL had events. What will be interesting is where the award ceremony is held.

Columbus Georgia hosted softball, and hardly anyone showed up, IIRC.

[Just the facts]

I suspect if OKC was able to get Softball there would be no trouble filling the stadium. In fact, they would probably need to add seats. Maybe the LA Olympic Committee will think about adding it. Softball is pretty popular in California.

[Pete]

If OKC gets Olympic whitewater events, could others follow?

As we reported earlier this week, Oklahoma City is in a strong position to land six canoe slalom events as part of the 2028 Summer Games hosted by Los Angeles.

Final decisions are to be made by the organizing committee and International Olympic Committee on all sports and venues before the end of 2023 in order to allow for the considerable planning and construction that would be involved.

If Oklahoma City was indeed granted the canoe slalom events to be held in the Riversport Rapids Whitewater Center – and that is a very real possibility – the door may be opened to river-based events such as rowing and sprint kayak and canoe.

As it stands, LA28 sought and received approval to host rowing events at the Long Beach Marina, even though constraints would require all 7 rowing competitions to be shortened from 2,000 meters -- long the Olympic and international standard – to 1,500 meters.

As we also reported, there has been much recent movement on the Oklahoma River to provide clear-span rowing for a full 2,000 meters, including plans for the complete replacement of the two I-35 bridges over the waterway. Renderings show suspension structures that would eliminate any columns in the river. It would also feature a viewing platform for river events.

Planned I-35 bridges and viewing area

Also very recently, plans have been submitted to construct a pedestrian bridge across the Oklahoma River near the massive OKANA project that is under construction. The planning schedule shows that section of the river being drained later this year to facilitate construction on the bridge and a landing for Oklahoma River Cruises.

The plans for the pedestrian bridge also show a starting platform directly to the west for 2,000-meter rowing races.

Planned pedestrian bridge and rowing start


River boat landing

For the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, they will have a new whitewater facility constructed directly next to a river where rowing will be held. This is a very similar configuration that exists in Oklahoma City.

In Paris, they are planning to host 12,000 fans for the whitewater sessions and 10,000 for rowing. Each series of events, composed of multiple heats and then the final medal round, runs about a week to 10 days.

Since the only viable option in Los Angeles is to shorten all the rowing events, and since it would be held in a very dense area where it would be difficult to construct spectator seating, there may be an opportunity for Oklahoma City to take on rowing as well, with promises to complete the I-35 bridges and other work before 2028.

The Oklahoma River has ample space to place stands for river and whitewater events. And if Oklahoma City was awarded the six canoe slalom events there would be synergies and cost savings in adding rowing as well, as opposed to a sub-optimal location in Long Beach which is nowhere near related events.

Proposed rowing grandstand


View from grandstand

Local officials and the Olympic organizing committee will not speak about any of these possibilities until official announcements are made before the end of the year.

But be sure that Oklahoma City would love to have both canoe slalom and rowing and perhaps a few other river-based Olympic events as well. Most the facilities are already in place and due to planning that has been performed, the remainder could be completed well in advance of July 2028.

One other obvious possibility: What about softball? Oklahoma City is already the softball capital of the U.S. and Hall of Fame Stadium holds 12,000, far more than any other softball-specific stadium in the country. OKC has ample experience hosting large softball events such as the just-concluded Women's College World Series after another wildly successful run.

Softball has yet to be made officially part of the 2028 Games but is still a possibility. The Olympics added softball in 1996, with the U.S. winning that year, in 2000 in Sydney, and in 2004 in Athens. It had been absent since 2008 but then included in Tokyo for 2020. But softball will not be a part of the 2024 Paris Games.

Since it is unknown if Los Angeles will even include softball in the 2028 Summer Games, any opportunity for Oklahoma City to host would be a longshot.

Splitting events between cities and even countries is the new normal for Olympic Games. The evolution was necessary to help defray costs and avoid cities constructing expensive facilities that are then effectively thrown away, as would be the case if LA28 chose to keep the whitewater events in Southern California.

It may sound strange that a host city like Los Angeles would farm out events as far away as Oklahoma City, but there are solid economic and logistical reasons to do so. Case in point: for the Paris 2024 Summer Games, the surfing competition will take place in Tahiti.

It is anticipated Oklahoma City will know its exact role in the 2028 Games sometime this fall.

Boathouse Row Masterplan



Conceptual layout



Rowing course; OKANA development in the foreground



OKANA development

[Mountaingoat]

The hosting city has a lot to say about which of the newer sports to the Games get included.

Paris is doing break dancing for crying out loud.


Softball was in Tokyo mainly due to the Japanese obsession with it and baseball (which was also included).

That's sad. Break dancing is in but baseball is still not a permanent sport. Breakdancing isn't really a sport. Soon they'll have something like knife throwing or team bungee jumping......

[soonerguru]

Great reporting, Pete. It's a shame KFOR are total idiots (except Emily Sutton, of course).

[April in the Plaza]

would they end up having a mini Olympic Village situated near the venue(s)?

[Pete]

would they end up having a mini Olympic Village situated near the venue(s)?

Yes, I'm sure they would.

I bet they would construct a hotel (long in the plans) to house athletes and their related delegations.

[Just the facts]

That's sad. Break dancing is in but baseball is still not a permanent sport. Breakdancing isn't really a sport. Soon they'll have something like knife throwing or team bungee jumping......

They are trying to compete with the X Games and Redbull Events. On that note, I'm looking forward to watching Olympic Soapbox Derby racing.

[Laramie]

Yes, I'm sure they would.

I bet they would construct a hotel (long in the plans) to house athletes and their related delegations.

Hopefully a decision from LA28 will allow us to get plans for hotel-housing accommodations planned well ahead of the event.

[ShadowStrings]

That's sad. Break dancing is in but baseball is still not a permanent sport. Breakdancing isn't really a sport. Soon they'll have something like knife throwing or team bungee jumping......

For a sport to be included in the Summer Olympics, it has to be widely practiced (in 75 countries and in at least 4 continents) and governed by an International Federation recognized by the IOC. The IOC decides which sports should be permanently included in the Olympics (for example, dropping baseball/softball after the 2008 games and adding golf and rugby as of the 2016 games). Starting with the 2020 Olympics, the IOC also allows the organizing committee for a specific games to propose additional sports to include in their edition of the games. This helps cities manage costs and also gives them an opportunity to showcase sports that might be more popular in their country. Tokyo 2020 added baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing. Paris 2024 will include skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing, and breaking (breakdancing). It's possible that skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing will be promoted to permanent sports before the 2028 Olympics. LA 2028 is considering cricket, breaking, baseball/softball, flag football, karate, kickboxing, lacrosse, squash, and motorsport, and we should find out which ones will be included after the IOC meets in October of this year.

[Mountaingoat]

I guess the question is, what is a sport, what is a game and what is a skill?