2028 Olympics

Indigenous Lacrosse Bid For 2028 Olympics Gets White House Support

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The White House has voiced its support for a campaign to include the indigenous inventors of lacrosse at the sports’ Olympic debut in 2028. “We’re hopeful the IOC will see it our way as well. If we’re successful, it won’t simply be the flag of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy that marches in the Olympics, it will be the flag of Indigenous people across the world,” White House senior adviser and director of intergovernmental affairs Tom Perez told the AP. The Haudenosaunee are credited with inventing the sport of lacrosse around the year 1100. The Confederacy is based in upstate New York and adjacent territories in Canada.

Furthermore, the Haudenosaunee has competed in international lacrosse events as an independent team since 1990. However, the Olympics have long held firm in their notion that athletes must represent an existing Olympic Committee. When lacrosse was announced as a sport for the 2028 games in LA, the IOC suggested that the US and Canada find a way to include the Haudenosaunee in their respective national teams. Representatives of the Haudenosaunee, who led the campaign for lacrosse’s inclusion in the Olympics, have been adamant that they be allowed to represent themselves. Now they have a significant backer in the President himself.

Read More: Megan Thee Stallion’s 2024 Olympics Pitch Includes Winged Horses And Some Creative Rebranding: Watch

Alabama QB Enters The Lacrosse Transfer Portal

However, lacrosse has been making a lot of headlines at the collegiate level as well. Tyler Buchner, the second-string quarterback at Alabama, has announced he has entered the transfer portal. However, he has entered the portal as a lacrosse player, not a football player. Buchner was one of the top lacrosse recruits coming out of high school. Despite this, he eventually committed to play football under Brian Kelly at Notre Dame. He was never able to capture the QB1 slot with the Fighting Irish, nor with the Crimson Tide after transferring in 2023.

While he has not confirmed that he is entirely turning his back on football, reports from ESPN suggest that he is primarily looking at his lacrosse options for the spring. Ironically, Notre Dame, Buchner’s original school, captured their first-ever men’s lacrosse title during the 2023 season. At this time, it is too early to determine if there are any lacrosse frontrunners for Buchner’s services.

Read More: Florida State “Disgusted” By CFP Snub Despite Undefeated Season

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Rob Gronkowski Wants To Play Flag Football At 2028 Olympics

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Rob Gronkowski has announced that he would be open to unretiring from football if it meant playing at the 2028 Olympics. “Hopefully there’s no tryouts and they just accept me. But I’m in. I’m going for that if there is flag football in the Olympics in 2028. USA going all the way!” Gronk told TMZ. The tight end retired in 2022. Furthermore, he has said on multiple occasions that he’s done for good. This is despite unretiring once before.

Flag football was one of five sports approved by the IOC executive board this week. It will debut at the 2028 Olympics in LA. The other sports approved were cricket, lacrosse, squash, and baseball/softball. Despite the perception of American Football being, well, an American sport, it actually enjoys immensely popularity around the world. Furthermore, the inclusion of flag football, as opposed to full contact football, mitigates many of the safety concerns involved with the inclusion.

Read More: Joel Embiid Declares For Team USA Ahead Of 2024 Olympics

DanceSport Federation Laments Exclusion Of Breaking From LA 2028

While Gronk may be excited for flag football, one governing body isn’t happy with the announcement. The World DanceSport Federation said it was “profoundly disappointed” that breaking had not been selected for the 2028 Olympics. Breaking, the competitive sport form of breakdancing, will make its Olympic debut in 2024. However, it will have to wait until Brisbane 2032 for another shot at inclusion. Karate, motorsport, and kickboxing were also considered but ultimately not approved for LA 2028.

Paris 2024 will feature the first Olympic breaking tournament, which has been slowly filling out its qualifiers over the last few months. At the World Championships last month, both Olympic spots were earned by challengers to the sport’s status quo. In the b-boys event, Victor “Victor” Montalvo, the 2021 champion, took down reigning champion Philip “Phil Wizard” Kim to regain his title. That earned the US a spot in next year’s Olympic field. Meanwhile, the b-girls final saw 16-year-old Dominika “Nika” Banevič of Lithuania take down breaking legend and 2021 champion Ayumi “Ayumi” Fukushima. Nika continues a stellar 2023 that saw her win the 2023 European Games. Furthermore, her win at the World Championships means that India “India” Sardjoe of the Netherlands receives the berth from the European Games.

Read More: South Sudan Earns Olympic Basketball Berth

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