Australia’s top swimmers are celebrating a potential Olympic gold medal windfall after six extra 50-metre sprint events were added to the program for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
The International Olympic Committee confirmed overnight there will be 351 medal events in LA — 22 more than at Paris 2024 — including new mixed-gender competitions in athletics, golf and artistic swimming. Among them is a mixed 4x100m relay on the track, which rising star Gout Gout could feature in.
The IOC’s announcement also brings changes to soccer, expanding the women’s tournament from 12 to 16 teams and reducing the men’s from 16 to 12 — a shift that will impact the Matildas and Olyroos.
But the major win for Australia is the inclusion of men’s and women’s 50m backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly events — an unprecedented opportunity for the nation’s top sprinters to chase multiple medals.
While these events are staples at world championships and international meets, they have never been part of the Olympic program.
The 50m freestyle has been on the Olympic program since 1988, with Cam McEvoy becoming the first Australian male to win a gold medal in the event last year.
Australian Cam McEvoy celebrates after winning gold in the 50m freestyle at the Paris Olympics in August.Credit: Eddie Jim
“I think it was inevitable,” said Australian head coach Rohan Taylor. “It’s good for us. It’ll keep some athletes really focused on staying in the sport longer, diversifying their event program and definitely will influence the way training is for some athletes.
“It just becomes more of a focal point. So therefore you’ll see people emerging.”
The six new sprint events take the total number of swimming races in the pool at LA 2028 to 41.
Australia finished fourth on the medal tally in Paris, just two golds behind Japan (20). The boost to the swimming schedule could lift Australia even higher in LA.
McEvoy, whose training is specifically tailored to sprinting, wrote on Instagram: “50m specialist training methods now a hot commodity after dunking on it for so many years.”
Australia’s best chance of a gold medal in the new events would be Kaylee McKeown in the 50m backstroke.
She is the world record holder in the one-lap dash and won a gold medal at the 2023 world championships in Japan.
The expanded program also gives McKeown a rare shot at four individual golds: 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, plus the 200m individual medley. Shane Gould remains the only Australian to win three individual golds at a single Games.
Two-time Olympian Isaac Cooper, a vocal advocate for adding 50m stroke events, also looms as a medal contender in LA.
“It’s an incredible day. It’s been pretty difficult to put into words,” Cooper said. “It’s always been a hope and a dream they’d be in the Olympics. It’s unbelievable. I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime. All the sprinters are happy that people are listening to them.
“I think we’ll see a lot of athletes come out of retirement and also some who will swim longer.
Kaylee McKeown after winning gold in the women’s 100m backstroke at the 2024 Paris Olympics.Credit: AP
“I hope that coaches will all start to accept that there is now a sprint philosophy that can be implemented in Australia … and start finding athletes who have a natural ability to sprint and finding them early.
“This is definitely going to cause ripples through the world of swimming. It’ll change the course of swimming.”
British breaststroke great Adam Peaty has also confirmed he will aim for a fourth Olympics, after previously contemplating retirement.
“Huge huge huge news, I’ll be there,” Peaty wrote on Instagram.
Australian Olympic legend Ian Thorpe told this masthead last year all 50m events needed to be in LA.
“They’re important. It’s almost a unique event in itself that we should be acknowledging,” Thorpe said. “I actually think it balances the program perfectly between sprint races and middle distance.”
Swimming in LA will be staged at SoFi Stadium, with a 38,000-seat capacity — the largest swimming venue in Olympic history.
Meanwhile, Australian teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout could have another event on his schedule if he qualifies for the LA Olympics.
Teenage star Gout is helping drive interest in athletics.Credit: Australian Athletics
The IOC has confirmed there will be a mixed 4x100m event on the track, with two men and two women running on the same team.
Australia’s sprint depth is improving, so much so that the IOC’s website listed Australia as a team to watch in LA, with the likes of Gout, Lachlan Kennedy and Torrie Lewis in great form.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Lee siblings Min Woo and Minjee could form an Olympic super team on the hunt for gold in LA after the decision to include a mixed-team event.
Golf only returned to the Olympic program at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games after a 112-year absence, and it has awarded medals in only one competition – 72 holes of stroke play – for men and for women.
The International Golf Federation had been lobbying for a mixed-team competition for the last several years without taking away too much time from golfers’ schedules on various tours.
Still to be determined are how many teams will compete and the qualification process, but the move raises the delightful prospect of an Australian team featuring the Lee brother-and-sister powerhouse combination.
There will also be an increase in women’s soccer teams from 12 to 16, while the men’s competition will be reduced from 16 to 12 teams. Assuming qualification mirrors what has happened in the past for tournaments with those numbers, it means three spots will be open to teams in Asia for the women, and only two for the men, making it easier for the Matildas and a little tougher for the Olyroos to reach the Games.
There will be five new sports on the LA 2028 program: baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash.
With AAP
