Organisers announced on Friday that the canoe-slalom, softball and athletics competitions of the Los Angeles Olympics 2028 will take place in Oklahoma City. Swimming will follow the athletics during the first week.

LA28 reported in a press release that both the athletics and swimming governing bodies had approved of the decision to change the traditional Olympic schedule.

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will host the athletics competition, making it only the third venue to have hosted athletics at three Olympic Games.

The Olympic swimming competition will take place at the home of the National Football League teams Rams and Chargers. This venue will be the largest in Olympic history with its 38,000 seats.

LA28 stated that the decision to relocate canoe-slalom to Oklahoma City and softball to Oklahoma City was a result of realising there were no suitable venues in Southern California for either sport.

In a press release, the organisers stated that "instead of undertaking further construction projects to create temporary venues for these sports," LA28 would assign Canoe Slalom competitions and Softball to world-class venues located in Oklahoma City.

LA28 reports that the biggest softball stadium in Southern California has a capacity of less than 2,000, not enough to meet demand. There is also no canoe-slalom facility in the area.

LA28 said that the use of venues in Oklahoma City, which were "built according to international competition standards", will reduce the costs for temporary stadiums while supporting a budget balance.

LA28's previous venue plan, which was developed in 2017, stated that the IOC had since developed a policy encouraging organisers prioritise the use of existing or temporary venues even if these are located outside of the Host City. (Reporting from Frank Pingue, Toronto; editing by Barbara Lewis.)