2028 LA Olympics Celebrated With Cauldron Lighting

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Olympic cauldron at the Memorial Coliseum will be lit this weekend by the International Olympic Committee's president at a Los Angeles Rams game to help celebrate the city's bid to host the 2028 Games, it was announced Monday.

The IOC is expected to officially name Los Angeles as the host of the 2028 Games on Wednesday at a meeting in Lima, Peru, and IOC President Thomas Bach will visit Los Angeles this weekend where he will attend the Rams game on Sunday with L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA 2028 Chairman Casey Wasserman.

L.A. hosted the Summer Olympics previously in 1932 and 1984, and the Coliseum was the site of the opening and closing ceremonies at both. The stadium is also expected to be one of the locations for the opening and closing ceremonies in 2028, along with a new NFL stadium currently under construction in Inglewood.

"The Games have given Los Angeles so much joy and inspiration over the years, and IOC President Thomas Bach is always a welcome and honored guest," Garcetti said. "But this visit is special: President Bach will arrive to a city beginning a new Olympic celebration, because for the first time in a generation we are bringing the Games back to Los Angeles. This city is in love with the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and we cannot wait to share our celebration and gratitude with President Bach."

Los Angeles started off competing with other cities around the world for the 2024 Games, but eventually all cities except L.A. and Paris dropped out. In July, the IOC approved the idea of awarding both the 2024 and 2028 Games simultaneously.

On July 31, Garcetti and other leaders announced a tentative agreement to host in 2028, pending the approval of the IOC in Lima. LA 2028, the nonprofit committee leading the city's bid, had expressed openness to hosting in '28 not long after the idea was reported.

"At LA 2028, we love the chance to showcase the City of Angels and we are honored by President Bach's visit," Wasserman said. "The IOC president and his colleagues will once again see for themselves why Los Angeles makes such an extraordinary host city: elite sport and passionate fans, right alongside the glamour of the entertainment industry, all of it enjoyed by a global audience. We look forward to sharing our city with members of the Olympic family many more times over the next 11 years."

City News Service and Patch staffer Emily Holland contributed to this post; Photo courtesy of Mayor Eric Garcetti