Global frenzy as LA28 Olympics attract 1.5 million ticket registrations on day one
LA Olympic Games
Akanis Simbine, Bradley Nkoana, Shaun Maswanganyi and Bayanda Walaza pose with their silver medals from the men's 4X100m relay final at the Paris Olympics. Team SA will be hoping to improve on the six medals from Paris at LA28.
Image: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP
Organisers of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 received an overwhelming response, with more than 1.5 million registrations for the ticket draw in the first 24 hours of the window opening, despite the Games being more than two years away.
They say there have been more registrations for the LA28 Games on the first day than the Tokyo, Paris and Milan Winter Olympics combined, with interest from fans in more than 150 countries.
“The Olympic Games returning to Los Angeles in 2028 is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to witness history,” said LA28 chairperson and president Casey Wasserman in a statement.
“The spirit of the LA28 Games is now officially ignited around the world, and fans have already shown up in record-breaking numbers just one day into our ticket registration. The journey is just beginning, and we look forward to an epic and unforgettable experience together in 2028.”
The LA28 Ticket Draw opened on January 14 and will run until March 18. Registration is the first chance to secure a time slot to purchase tickets. Once registered, participants will be entered into the draw, which will randomly assign time slots to purchase tickets throughout multiple future ticket drops.
Team South Africa will be looking to improve on their Paris 2024 showing, where they bagged six medals – one gold, three silvers and two bronze – as SA finished tied for 44th on the medals table with Jamaica and Thailand.
At the Tokyo Games in 2020, Team SA came home with three medals.
If they are to show further improvement at the showpiece in LA, the athletes will have to step up, having managed a paltry bronze in the men’s 4X400m relay at last year’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
With the nation’s most decorated Olympian, Tatjana Smith – the source of gold and silver medals in Paris – calling time on her career, rising backstroke star Pieter Coetze’s breakthrough at the World Aquatics Champs last year has helped revive hopes of more medal joy for SA in the LA pool.