Every four years, thousands of athletes represent their countries in the most widespread sporting event on the planet: the Summer Olympics. Since its revival 129 years ago, these 16 days of competition have symbolized international collaboration in times of cross-cultural conflicts and political disagreements. The Games celebrate global diversity as the world comes together in one thriving city.

Los Angeles made history when the International Olympic Committee rewarded them the 2028 Olympics in the same vote that confirmed Paris as the 2024 host. Following the success of the 2024 Paris Games, L.A. will be hosting the Olympics for the third time in 2028. 

The role of each city’s Olympic board includes many responsibilities, some of which are venue planning, athlete management, transportation and marketing. Archer senior Parker Keston, an Olympics enthusiast, said she is curious about how L.A.’s classic culture will be integrated into the Games. 

“We don’t have a specific tennis stadium, for example, but it’ll be interesting to see how we utilize all the facilities and venues, like SoFi versus the parks and UCLA and USC,” Keston said. “My favorite part is turning on the TV at any point in the day and seeing the most random sports — in the summer, I watched canoeing and equestrian. [LA28] will allow people to broaden their perspectives and diversify their sports repertoires.” 

The Games, however, are coming to a city recently wracked by tragedy. L.A.’s January wildfires caused damage to both the city’s infrastructure and community spirit, raising questions about planning for all three major sporting events: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2027 Superbowl LXI and the 2028 Olympic Games.

LA28 has already committed to numerous sustainable pledges, one of which is to avoid building any permanent structures. The fire damage did not affect any of the planned venues for the sporting events, so with the addition of various temporary venues, relocation is highly unlikely. Senior Chey Pitcher said understanding the widespread impact of the fires needs to be the key consideration of L.A.’s Olympic committee.

“The [committee] should do whatever would be most effective for rebuilding the houses that were affected first,” Pitcher said. “If [L.A.] decides to still host the Olympics, [we need to] make sure the profit they’re making is going back towards the places that were affected. We cannot prioritize entertainment over people’s livelihoods.”

The Games pose an opportunity to create a long-term impact on L.A. rather than the usual “quick fixes” used to improve the promotion of the Games. Improving public transportation and the homelessness crisis are two goals affirmed by both L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newson.

Twelfth grade Dean of Culture, Community and Belonging and Sustainability Teacher Casey Huff, who has a background in urban planning, said she supports the current Olympic plan. Huff said it is important to root the true community into the Games by incentivizing Angelenos to stay in the city, which would prevent an exodus of residents renting out their homes.

“L.A. is a very transient city because of Hollywood and how expensive it is, and I don’t want the Olympics to be another moment where that’s true,” Huff said. “Integrating the Olympics truly into our community by way of free tickets, a heavy discount or preferred parking or even modeling congestion pricing for traffic — like having local roads closed only to residents — will ensure that Olympic traffic doesn’t infiltrate some of those smaller neighborhoods where we lack the infrastructure to support an influx of many more people.”

Huff said L.A.’s unique structural layout causes its defining stretches of bumper-to-bumper traffic. L.A. is polycentric, meaning it was intentionally designed without a central community hub. A rise in population and middle-class wealth created suburban areas, which, combined with a poor public transportation system, makes it difficult to commute to work and access essential services. 

In addressing the large homelessness crisis, the Olympic committee is working with Mayor Karen Bass, who has been aiming to provide dignity to unhoused individuals since her campaign. Huff said that, from a humanitarian standpoint, a long-term housing solution for homeless people would address the public health and safety issues they pose.

The Games provide an opportunity to address these systemic problems and permanently change L.A.’s infrastructural landscape. As an evacuee herself, Keston said she sees immense potential in L.A.’s Olympic future and the benefits it will bring to the areas affected by wildfires.

“Economically and infrastructure-wise, the Olympics is very important because it brings so much revenue, viewership and people to the city,” Keston said. “Obviously, we’ll see how different it is in four years from now — whether the Palisades and Altadena are rebuilt. Traffic is already a big issue because PCH and parts of Sunset are closed, so reopening those will definitely be helpful.”

With their aims to avoid large builds and support the unhoused population, LA28 could make history as a truly sustainable Games, rebuilding a thriving city along the way. Huff said that only a climate-forward focus on carbon reduction, single-use waste, homelessness and nonmotorized transportation will benefit L.A. for years to come.

“We’re always caught in a triangulation of finger-pointing and blame, but not a lot of solutions are being presented,” Huff said. “The Olympics could either be a catalyst to correct and implement necessary changes that citizens have been wanting for a long time or put a band-aid on really significant problems, hiding the less glamorous parts of our city for cameras and visitors from all over the world, and not actually fixing anything.”