Decisions on the equestrian venue for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and eventing’s inclusion in the programme are expected to be confirmed in the next week.
H&H reported last year that Galway Downs, an existing facility in Temecula, had been proposed as the home to horse sport at LA28 – a change from the Sepulveda Dam recreation area, which had been earmarked previously.
But at the FEI Sports Forum this week (31 March to 1 April), FEI president Ingmar De Vos said that “the venue will be decided soon and it’s all open”.
“We hope, we think – there is an executive board meeting of the IOC [International Olympic Committee] on 9 April, so we believe that hopefully by then the master plan, the venue master plan, will be finalised, and that we will know where we will go,” he said.
“But we are in permanent contact with the Los Angeles organising committee about this – everything’s going in the right direction, but we are under a non-disclosure agreement so we cannot say anything.”
He added that the FEI is also awaiting confirmation of its quota of competitors – it is seeking 200, as in Paris – and the events, by which he means individual and team medals in each discipline.
Mr De Vos was asked for information on the question over the LA venue, during a press briefing after the forum.
“What we can say is that the venue has not been finalised yet,” he said. “The organising committee is looking at a lot of different aspects, such as the climate such as the costs.
“They want… and this is very clear instruction also from the IOC, that we need to be as cost efficient as possible, which means that there are maybe some other options that do not necessarily need a remote Olympic Village. So they are looking at that.
“The organising committee is finalising the cost calculations of the different possibilities.”
Eventing’s inclusion is contingent on all phases running at the same venue as the pure dressage and showjumping, and the decision on this is also expected on 9 April.
At the forum, Mr De Vos shared positive news on the increase in digital engagement and broadcast figures for Paris 2024 on previous Games, and what this means in the wider picture.
“I was very happy that I even received a phone call from the IOC director general [Christophe De Kepper] congratulating us on our performance on digital and on broadcasting,” he said. “That’s very important, because this has helped to consolidate our position in the Olympic programme.”
The qualification process for LA28 will be voted on at the 2025 FEI general assembly in November.
Early suggestions shared at the forum included tweaking the reallocation process, so if a nation turns down a team spot, it is not automatically granted an individual place. Individual places would have to be earned instead.
The idea was also raised to allocate two more Olympic team tickets to the 2026 World Showjumping Championships, so there would be a total of seven LA28 team places available.
This would come at the cost of removing any chance of securing Olympic team qualification via the Longines League of Nations finals in 2026 and 2027. The series’ predecessor, the Nations Cup final, was historically a way of securing Olympic qualification. The reasoning behind the idea is to give nations outside Europe more opportunity of qualifying through the World Championship route.
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