Latest news with #JanetEvans
Forbes
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
LA 2028 Olympics: Janet Evans Chief Athlete Officer
Before there was Ledecky there was Evans. Janet Evans. In the late 1980s Evans was the first woman to hold three world records simultaneously in the 400, 800, and 1500-meter freestyle and was the first American woman to win four individual Olympic gold medals in swimming. She was ahead of her time. Her records would not be broken until 2006, 2008 and 2007 respectively. Evans would finish her Olympic career, which began in Seoul in 1988, in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics as one of the most decorated American swimmers of all time. Nicknamed 'Miss Perpetual Motion,' she won five Olympic medals (four gold), captured 45 national titles, and set seven world records in the pool. Although she succeeded beyond her wildest dreams in her racing career Evans would reflect later that her experiences outside the pool as an Olympic athlete often left something to be desired. So when LA 2028 chairman Casey Wasserman and LA Mayor Eric Garcetti first approached Evans in 2015 about the job of Chief Athlete Officer for the 2028 Games she was quick to spell out her expectations. Evans saw her role as reminding everyone on the organizing committee every day that the athletes are the most important stakeholders in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. All decisions regarding events including timing, transportation, facilities, food and housing would be filtered through this lense. 'When I took the job, I told LA 2028 chairman Casey Wasserman and Mayor Garcetti: 'I won't take this job unless we put athletes at the heart of what we're doing, and every decision we make that involves athletes will be passed through my team,'' Evans said. 'That's how my role evolved here at LA28, because Casey gave me the bandwidth to put athletes first. I think every decision we make here at LA28 is very athlete centered. We have more Olympians working here at LA28 than the IOC does in Lausanne.' From the beginning Evans would reach out to athletes for feedback while preparing L.A.'s presentation to the IOC, including at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials. She wanted to hear their direct input for how to envision the 2028 Games. 'It was an amazing experience because I got to reconnect with athletes,' Evans said. Now in her role as Chief Athlete Officer, Evans is faced with the Herculean task of arranging accommodations for 15,000 athletes from more than 200 national Olympic committees (NOCs) across 30 different sports. As someone whose 1992 Olympic experience was impacted by her bus driver getting lost in Barcelona between prelims and finals, Evans knows firsthand how important it is for logistics to run smoothly on what might be the most important day of an athlete's career. Evans would attend the 2024 Games in Paris not only to talk to attend events and tour facilities like the Olympic village, but seek fresh input from the athletes right after the Games. She wanted to hear the good, the bad and the ugly from their perspective. 'Having lived in three Olympic Villages and having competed in three Olympic Games ... "It's really important to understand what the athletes are experiencing,' Evans said. For Evans that meant things like comments about uncomfortable beds, limited air conditioning and food shortages. Evans is satisfied those issues have been successfully addressed in housing the athletes on the campus of UCLA. The athlete village for the 2028 Games will be the campus of UCLA, which has an enrollment of almost 45,000 students, with 11,000 undergraduates currently living on campus. That includes 5 dining halls and 5 casual eating areas, 9 of UCLA's athletics facilities for training (which will allow 51% of Olympians and 62% of Paralympians to train in the village). For swimmers, divers, artistic swimmers, and water polo players, that training will include use of the 50-meter pool at the Spieker Aquatics Center. There will be a total of 17,000 beds in the Olympic Village for athletes and support personnel. This 'city within a city' will be complete with services and amenities designed with convenient access to dining options, fitness centers, TV and recreation lounges, laundry rooms, and 24-hour front desk assistance. In addition to creating optimum housing and training facilities for the athletes, Evans and the LA Organizing Committee are prioritizing their safety and security. In June of 2024, the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in the greater Los Angeles area were designated a National Special Security Event by the Secretary of Homeland Security. This marks the furthest in advance that a National Special Security Event designation has ever been granted. 'The security planning for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be a huge undertaking that will require close coordination between law enforcement and public safety partners at all levels,' said Brian Lewin, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service Los Angeles Field Office. 'We are already working diligently to ensure that the games, though years away, will be secure for all athletes, attendees, and the public.' Seems like Janet Evans should feel pretty good then about her goal to put the athletes first at the 2028 Games? Yes and no. 'Not every athlete is going to get every single thing because there are 27 different international federations that have needs, too,' Evans said. 'It's become an interesting transition for me away from aquatic sports, if you will, and toward the entirety of the participants at the Games, both Olympic and Paralympics. We love Team USA, but we have 206 national Olympic committees (NOCs) coming to LA. While Team USA is obviously my favorite team, we have a lot of other NOCs that have their needs also.' The bottom line is Evans' job is a monumental undertaking. Between now and the summer of 2028 she and the organizing committee have a never-ending task list. And It will not be perfect in the end. But I think Evans is the right person for the job. Because of her experience as an Olympic athlete and her dedication to putting the athletes first in all things at the LA 2028 games, they win. And if they win we all win.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
More venues revealed for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. See the list
More venues revealed for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. See the list More venues revealed for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. See the list originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area What to Know LA's organizing committee presented a final venues plan to the International Olympic Committee, which signed off on the update last week. The updated venues plan includes sites in Venice, downtown LA, Long Beach, the San Gabriel Valley, Carson, Anaheim and more. All baseball games will be played at Dodger Stadium. Long Beach will play host to beach volleyball at Alamitos Beach. Surfing catches a wave in San Clemente. A medal events program for the 2028 Olympics also was approved last week by the IOC. The LA 2028 Olympics Opening Ceremony is July 14, 2028 with competition through July 30, 2028. The competition venue plan for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics became clearer Tuesday when locations for more than a dozen sports, including beach volleyball, surfing and baseball, were revealed. Advertisement LA28, Los Angeles' Olympics organizing committee, presented its updated list of 2028 Olympics venues to the International Olympic Committee, which signed off last week on the updated plan. On Tuesday, LA28 announced sites for more sports, including baseball at Dodger Stadium, squash at Universal Studios in Universal City, beach volleyball in Long Beach and surfing off the San Clemente coast. The list includes events added to previously announced venues, like the Sepulveda Basin Recreation area in the San Fernando Valley, and sites in Venice, downtown LA, Long Beach, the San Gabriel Valley, Carson, Anaheim and more. 'We have some really great places,' said LA28 Chief Athlete Officer Janet Evans, an Olympic swimming gold medalist. 'It encapsulates and shows what LA can bring. 'We want our athletes to have a world-class experience at world-class venues.' Advertisement Here's the full list of sites announced Tuesday. Archery : Carson's Dignity Health Sports Park. Baseball : All games will be played at Dodger Stadium, used for exhibition games at the 1984 Olympics. 3×3 basketball and modern pentathlon : Sepulveda Basin Recreation area in the San Fernando Valley. Beach volleyball : Long Beach will play host at Alamitos Beach. Boxing : Recently reinstated by the IOC, preliminary bouts will be at Peacock Theater in downtown LA with the finals at Arena. Coastal rowing : This new event will make its Olympics debut in Long Beach. Cricket : A temporary grounds for the historic sport will be built at the fairgrounds in Pomona. Equestrian : Santa Anita Park in Arcadia. Rhythmic gymnastics : The Galen Center in Exposition Park south of downtown LA will host this event and badminton. Target shooting : Long Beach Convention Center, where a temporary range will be built. Shotgun shooting : The Shotgun Center in South El Monte east of Los Angeles. Sport climbing : A temporary climbing wall will be added at the Long Beach Convention Center with the Pacific Ocean as the backdrop. Squash : Universal Studios' 'courthouse plaza' will be familiar to fans of 'Back to the Future.' Glass boxes used for the sport will be set up on the backlot in Universal City. Surfing : Lower Trestles in San Clemente. Target shooting : A temporary installation will be added at the Long Beach Convention Center. Triathlon, road cycle start and marathon start : Venice Volleyball: Honda Center in Anaheim. 'We've promised the world an incredible Olympic Games and today we're proud to share the plan that will make it happen,' said LA28 Chief Executive Officer Reynold Hoover. 'Los Angeles is the epicenter of sports, culture and entertainment, and every venue selected for the 2028 Games will provide athletes and fans the best possible experience. The 2028 Olympic venue plan invites communities from across the region to celebrate the Games coming to their backyard with the most exciting sports staged at some of the world's top-tier existing stadiums and arenas, famous beaches and purpose-built temporary structures.' Venues for other sports were announced earlier, including Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, BMO Stadium in Exposition Park, the Los Angeles Convention Center and Arena in downtown LA, the sports complex in Carson, Rose Bowl in Pasadena and several sites outside the city of Los Angeles, including canoe slalom and softball, which are set for Oklahoma City. Advertisement The Los Angeles City Council in March approved changes to the original proposed venue plan for the 2028 Olympics and Paralympic Games. The city approved an initial venue plan in 2017 and revisions were announced during the summer. Any amendments require consent by the city, which clears the way for the IOC presentation. Among the changes proposed in the summer: Basketball would move to the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, gymnastics to Arena in downtown Los Angeles and swimming to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. No new permanent venues will be built for the 2028 Olympics. The medal events program for 2028 approved last week by the International Olympic Committee features six new mixed gender team events in what the LA28 organizing committee called a 'monumental step forward.' Advertisement The program approved for 2028 has 22 more medal events than Paris 2024 at 351. Mixed team events added for 2028 include artistic gymnastics, athletics (4×100 mixed gender relay), golf, archery (compound bow), coastal rowing beach sprint and table tennis. The competition format for the new artistic gymnastic mixed team event will be finalized and announced at a later date. The medal competition includes expansions to the field of women's soccer and water polo event, a new women's boxing weight class, an expanded 3×3 basketball field, and more medal events in swimming and sport climbing. Flag football will make its Olympic debut in 2028 and lacrosse will return to the lineup of medal sports for the first time in more than a century. Baseball and softball will make their Olympic comeback, and cricket also will be part of the lineup. Advertisement See the full list of medal events here. The LA 2028 Olympics Opening Ceremony is July 14, 2028 with competition through July 30, 2028. The LA28 Paralympic Games will kick off Aug. 15, 2028 and close Aug. 27, 2028.
