Mixed golf to make its debut at 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
The International Olympic Committee board has approved the addition of mixed golf to the list of sports at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics alongside the individual women’s and men’s competitions.
- Apr 17, 2025,
- Updated Apr 17, 2025 8:07 PM IST
The International Olympic Committee has decided that mixed golf will be inducted as a medal event at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, in addition to the individual women’s and men’s competitions that returned to the Summer Games in Rio in 2016. This is also a significant step forward in furthering gender equality on the world’s biggest sporting stage.
In a statement, the International Golf Federation said that the IOC executive board had approved the addition of an Olympic Golf Mixed-Team Event, which will debut at Los Angeles and complement the existing individual golf competitions. All three events will be contested at The Riviera Country Club. Cricket is also being brought to the LA Games schedule.
With India almost certain to send at least one if not two, golfers in each category depending on world rankings at the cutoff date, it could open the door to a medal that Aditi Ashok almost achieved at the Tokyo Games which would in turn be a massive boost to the sport around the country.
“We’re thrilled to see a mixed team event added to the programme for Los Angeles 2028,” said IGF executive director Antony Scanlon. “Golf was incredibly successful at Paris 2024, and as we continue building on the momentum from Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, we’re excited to bring even more attention to our sport through this additional format.
“The athletes were very enthusiastic about their desire to play with their compatriots, and we look forward to watching them compete together in Los Angeles.”
The mixed team event will be contested as a 36-hole competition – 18 holes of foursomes (alternate shot) for the first round, followed by 18 holes of four-ball (best ball) for the final round. There will be a maximum of one team per country comprising one male and one female, who are already qualified for the Men’s and Women’s Individual Olympic Golf Competitions.
The mixed team event will sandwich the four-round men’s and women’s individual events and marks its return to the Games for the first time since the Paris Olympics of 1904.
The event programme and athlete quotas for LA28 were approved by the IOC Executive Board last week. With a total of 351 medal events, 22 more than at Paris 2024 (329), the LA28 programme maintains the core athlete quota of 10,500 with an extra 698 allocated for the five sports proposed by the LA28 Organising Committee (Baseball/Softball, Cricket, Flag Football, Lacrosse and Squash).
The event programme for LA28 was developed based on the requests presented by the International Sports Federations to the IOC. The decision from the IOC Executive Board followed the recommendation from the Olympic Programme Commission and the principles approved in 2023, gender equal, globally appealing, cost and complexity-conscious and athlete-focussed, the IGF said in a statement.
With the inclusion of boxing approved by the IOC session in March this year, the LA28 sports programme is composed of 31 sports with an additional five sports proposed by the Organising Committee and approved by the IOC in 2023.
Golf is one of six medal events – joining archery, athletics (4x100 metre mixed relay), gymnastics, rowing coastal beach sprint and table tennis – to add a mixed-gender competition for LA28.
The International Olympic Committee has decided that mixed golf will be inducted as a medal event at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, in addition to the individual women’s and men’s competitions that returned to the Summer Games in Rio in 2016. This is also a significant step forward in furthering gender equality on the world’s biggest sporting stage.
In a statement, the International Golf Federation said that the IOC executive board had approved the addition of an Olympic Golf Mixed-Team Event, which will debut at Los Angeles and complement the existing individual golf competitions. All three events will be contested at The Riviera Country Club. Cricket is also being brought to the LA Games schedule.
With India almost certain to send at least one if not two, golfers in each category depending on world rankings at the cutoff date, it could open the door to a medal that Aditi Ashok almost achieved at the Tokyo Games which would in turn be a massive boost to the sport around the country.
“We’re thrilled to see a mixed team event added to the programme for Los Angeles 2028,” said IGF executive director Antony Scanlon. “Golf was incredibly successful at Paris 2024, and as we continue building on the momentum from Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, we’re excited to bring even more attention to our sport through this additional format.
“The athletes were very enthusiastic about their desire to play with their compatriots, and we look forward to watching them compete together in Los Angeles.”
The mixed team event will be contested as a 36-hole competition – 18 holes of foursomes (alternate shot) for the first round, followed by 18 holes of four-ball (best ball) for the final round. There will be a maximum of one team per country comprising one male and one female, who are already qualified for the Men’s and Women’s Individual Olympic Golf Competitions.
The mixed team event will sandwich the four-round men’s and women’s individual events and marks its return to the Games for the first time since the Paris Olympics of 1904.
The event programme and athlete quotas for LA28 were approved by the IOC Executive Board last week. With a total of 351 medal events, 22 more than at Paris 2024 (329), the LA28 programme maintains the core athlete quota of 10,500 with an extra 698 allocated for the five sports proposed by the LA28 Organising Committee (Baseball/Softball, Cricket, Flag Football, Lacrosse and Squash).
The event programme for LA28 was developed based on the requests presented by the International Sports Federations to the IOC. The decision from the IOC Executive Board followed the recommendation from the Olympic Programme Commission and the principles approved in 2023, gender equal, globally appealing, cost and complexity-conscious and athlete-focussed, the IGF said in a statement.
With the inclusion of boxing approved by the IOC session in March this year, the LA28 sports programme is composed of 31 sports with an additional five sports proposed by the Organising Committee and approved by the IOC in 2023.
Golf is one of six medal events – joining archery, athletics (4x100 metre mixed relay), gymnastics, rowing coastal beach sprint and table tennis – to add a mixed-gender competition for LA28.