Four years is a long time away.
Except when you’re China or the United States, and the 1,433-day countdown clock to the 2028 Olympics is already loudly ticking.
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Simone Biles could stick around to represent Team USA in Los Angeles in 2028Credit: Getty
China is on the rise.
Team USA ended the brilliantly executed 2024 Summer Games in Paris on top of the athletic world once again, winning 35 more medals than second-place China.
Tick, tick, tick.
LeBron James has already declared that The King will be on holiday in 2028.
There will be flag football, cricket, squash, baseball, softball and lacrosse, while Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky must decide if the pull of one last Olympics in their home country is enough to prevent them from enjoying the comforts of early retirement.
Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and an entertainment industry founded upon make believe will soon give LA the same complicated pro/con treatment that Paris received.
But the 2028 Olympics are already set up as the Battle for Los Angeles, with two huge countries separated by more than 7,000 miles clashing in sunny California for worldwide supremacy.
In Paris, fantastic venues and packed stands ultimately produced a two-country showdown at the peak.
Team USA won 40 golds.
China won 40 golds.
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LeBron James has already said he’s not playing in 2028Credit: Getty
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China is an athletic superpower on the riseCredit: Getty
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Paris drew raves and was praised for its performance hosting the 2024 Summer GamesCredit: Getty
No one else came close.
Japan finished in third, yet only collected half of the 40-gold total that allowed the United States and China to both proclaim that they “won” the 2024 Olympics.
Great Britain has watched its gold medal tally decline in four consecutive Olympics, falling from 29 in London in 2012 to just 14 in Paris.
The NFL announce that flag football is coming to the LA 2028 Olympics and have Jalen Hurts promoting it
Tom Cruise was the real winner this summer, drawing international coverage by cheering on Simone Biles and Emma Hayes from the expensive seats, then reminding the globe that he’s officially married to Hollywood with a Closing Ceremony stunt that appeared to tease the eighth installment of Mission Impossible (coming in 2025 to a theater near you!).
With China and the USA trading the gold-medal lead daily in Paris, the 2024 version of the Summer Games was top heavy and never in doubt.
The United States was easily going to win it all again with 126 total medals.
China was going to rack up gold after gold, matching Team USA in the most important category and setting the stage for a potential Los Angeles takeover inside the United States in less than four years.
In the previous three Olympics, Team USA beat China in golds by nine (2012 London), 20 (2016 Rio) and one (2020 Toyko).
In Paris, there was no golden edge.
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It’s going to be a big party in LA in 2028Credit: Getty
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Los Angeles doesn’t have Paris’ history but it does have Snoop Dogg and sand castlesCredit: Getty
When the last two Olympics are combined, the United States is only +1 vs China in golds.
Team USA still owns track and field — 34 total medals, 14 golds in Paris — and it’s almost impossible to imagine that fact changing in Los Angeles.
Swimming, diving, shooting, artistic gymnastics, badminton, boxing, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling highlight China’s Olympic rise.
A country that didn’t fully participate in the Summer Games until 1984 in LA now has a population of more than 1.4 billion and is the United States’ only true gold medal rival just 40 years later.
In 2028, total medals will be a two-country race.
Gold is up for grabs.
The Olympic Battle for Los Angeles has already begun.
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Publish date : 2024-08-12 11:16:00
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