With the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California only a few years away, many pickleball players are wondering: will pickleball be in the Olympics?
Will pickleball be in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles?
The quick answer is: no, pickleball will not be in the Olympics for the 2028 Los Angeles summer games. To be added as an Olympic sport is no small feat, it takes years and a lot of support.
To be added as a summer Olympic sport, the sport must:
- Be widely practiced by men in at least 75 countries and on four continents.
- Be widely practiced by women in at least 40 countries and on three continents.
- Have adopted and implemented the World Anti-Doping Code Sport.
- Be admitted to the "programme" seven years before the Olympic Games.
This means that, once approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it will take another seven years before pickleball is ever added as an Olympic sport.
The above qualifications are not the only hurdles a sport has to go through, there are additional rules and qualifications to be entered. However, in 2020, the IOC decided to accept sports that will “enhance the popularity of the [Olympic] games, while ensuring that the numbers of athletes, and the cost and complexity of the event, remain manageable,” which could include pickleball.
When will pickleball be in the Olympics?
The sports lineup for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles is already set, so pickleball has no chance of making it in that year. There is a strong push by the pickleball community to have the sport included in 2032 in Brisbane, which would be the earliest year it could be included. But many players think 2036 (location yet to be announced) is a more realistic goal.
The pickleball community is also making a push to have pickleball be added a demonstration sport in 2028 or 2032 — meaning it would not be an official sport but would still be present at the Olympic games. That would be a good step in convincing the IOC that pickleball is a relevant sport.
Pickleball in the Olympics
Pickleball is not yet an Olympic sport, and will not appear in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic games. But the growth of the sport and the massive promotion by the pickleball community to the Olympic committee could help it get added as soon as 2032.