IOC Executive Board approves mixed team golf event for LA 2028 Olympics

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New Delhi, April 16: Indian fans will be in for a treat when they will witness the likes of Shubhankar Sharma and Aditi Ashok playing together for an Olympic medal in Los Angeles 2028 Games.

The prospect of a mixed team representing the country will see the light of the day after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board approved it's addition to the existing men's and women's individual stroke play competitions for the Los Angeles Olympics.

The addition of the mixed team event marks the first Olympic Golf team competition since the 1904 Games. The International Golf Federation (IGF) confirmed this development through a media statement. In fact, all the three golf events will be contested at The Riviera Country Club during the LA 2028 Games.

IGF executive director Antony Scanlon confirmed: "We're absolutely thrilled to see a Mixed-Team Event added to the programme for Los Angeles 2028. Golf was incredibly successful at Paris 2024, and as we continue building on the momentum from Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, we're excited to bring even more attention to our sport through this additional format.

"The athletes were very enthusiastic about their desire to play with their compatriots, and we look forward to watching them compete together in Los Angeles."

Golf is one of six sports - joining Archery, Athletics (4x100m mixed relay), Gymnastics, Rowing Coastal Beach Sprint and Table Tennis - to add a mixed-gender competition for LA 2028 Games.

Instead of 72 holes, the mixed team event will be contested across 36 holes - comprising of an 18 hole foursomes and another 18 hole of fourballs (best ball) for the final round. There will be a maximum of one team per country, with teams comprised of one male and one female who are already qualified for the men's and women's individual Olympic golf competitions.

The mixed team event will be sandwiched between the four-round men's and women's individual stroke play competitions. The event programme and athlete quotas for LA 2028 were approved by the IOC Executive Board on April 9.

With a total of 351 medal events, 22 more than at Paris 2024 (329), the LA 2028 programme maintains the core athlete quota of 10,500 with an extra 698 allocated for the five sports proposed by the LA 2028 Organising Committee (Baseball/Softball, Cricket, Flag Football, Lacrosse and Squash).

The event programme for LA28 was developed based on the requests presented by the international sports federations to the IOC. Gender equality was one of the important principles recommended by the Olympic Programme Commission and approved by IOC Executive Board.