Bruce Davidson Sr. (USA) and JJ Babu. Photo by Virginia Hill/CC.
We knew that the the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympic Games were going to Paris and Los Angeles, although not necessarily in that order, but now it is well on its way to becoming official: Paris will be hosting the former and L.A. the latter. The deal, announced yesterday by L.A. officials, will be formally confirmed by the IOC in September.
The 2028 Games will mark L.A.’s third time playing Olympic host, as it previously hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984. The U.S. eventing team has had good luck in Los Angeles, sweeping team gold both times it was held here. Those are some big shoes to fill, but we’ve got 11 years to whip U.S. eventing into gold medal shape — challenge accepted!
In 1932 the podium was topped by the three-man U.S. team of Earl Foster Thomson, Harry Chamberlin and Edwin Argo. In advance of last year’s Games Lorraine Jackson dug through the IOC archives and produced a fascinating article about what that year’s three-day eventing competition looked like. She described the endurance day layout as “mind-boggling,” as the cross country course crossed multiple major thoroughfares and cut off downtown Santa Monica from any traffic northwest of Centinela Avenue. Read more here: “10 Incredible Eventing Images from the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.”
Image via IOC.
Image via IOC.
In 1984, Bruce Davidson, the late Karen Stives, Michael Plumb and Torrance Fleischmann (nee Watkins) won the team gold medal and Karen and Ben Arthur won individual silver. The U.S. also won team gold and individual gold and silver in show jumping. I had some fun with the IOC archives here — “10 Photos from the 1984 Olympics That Will Blow Back Your Feathered Mullet” — and check out this video for some great footage from those Games.
J. Michael Plumb (USA) on Bluestone, who finished 10th in the individual competition. Photo by Virginia Hill/CC.
The Sepulvida Valley Sports Complex, located about 11 miles from the Olympic Village at UCLA, has been proposed as host site of the equestrian events in 2028. The venue will also host canoe slalom and shooting. Here’s a look around that venue:
Time to bring back the gold, kids! Go Eventing.
