Home Olympics pulls U.S. medalists back toward Los Angeles 2028
By JAHANZAIB SAQIB I SCN News Desk
PHOENIX, — For some of America’s most accomplished athletes, retirement once appeared close — or had already arrived. But the opportunity to compete in an Olympics on U.S. soil is changing career calculations as veterans and former medalists consider stretching their bodies, schedules and competitive lives toward Los Angeles 2028.
The attraction is particularly visible in gymnastics, where Olympic champions and medalists are weighing another four-year cycle despite the physical demands and fierce competition for places on Team USA.
Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics from July 14-30, 2028, bringing the Games back to the United States for the first time since Atlanta in 1996 and to Los Angeles for the first time since 1984.
Jade Carey still sees something worth chasing
Olympic gold medalist Jade Carey is among the established American gymnasts continuing toward 2028.
Carey won floor exercise gold at the Tokyo Olympics and added team gold and vault bronze in Paris. Now in her mid-20s, she is competing in an era when elite women’s gymnastics careers are increasingly extending beyond the teenage years that once dominated the sport.
For athletes such as Carey, Los Angeles offers something previous Olympic cycles could not: the possibility of performing before a home crowd without international travel defining the Olympic experience.
That emotional pull is influencing athletes who might otherwise have considered their Olympic careers complete.
Hezly Rivera has a different challenge
For Hezly Rivera, the calculation is different.
Rivera was just 16 when she became part of the U.S. women’s team that won gold in Paris in 2024. Los Angeles could provide an opportunity for her to return as an experienced athlete rather than the youngest member of a star-filled team.
The changing American gymnastics landscape means there is no guarantee for anyone.
Only a limited number of athletes will make the Olympic team, and younger gymnasts will continue emerging between now and the 2028 U.S. trials.
That makes the next two years less a victory lap for returning Olympians than another fight to earn their places.
Even retired stars are reconsidering
Perhaps the clearest evidence of LA28’s appeal is that athletes who had already moved beyond Olympic competition are considering returns.
Katelyn Ohashi, the former UCLA gymnastics star whose floor routines became globally famous, has returned to elite training after leaving that level of competition more than a decade ago.
Ohashi, now 29, is pursuing the possibility of making the 2028 team while acknowledging the enormous difficulty involved. Her comeback is driven largely by the opportunity to compete at a home Olympics and by a renewed enjoyment of gymnastics rather than an expectation that a roster position is guaranteed.
The significance extends beyond gymnastics.
Allyson Felix launches extraordinary comeback
One of the most striking LA28 comeback stories involves Allyson Felix.
Felix retired after the 2022 season as the most decorated American track-and-field athlete in Olympic history, having accumulated 11 Olympic medals.
In April, however, she announced plans to return to competition with Los Angeles 2028 as her goal.
Felix would be 42 during the Games.
Her return demonstrates the unusual power of a home Olympics. She had already completed one of the most decorated careers in American athletics and had little left to prove competitively.
Yet the possibility of competing in the city where she grew up has provided a reason to try again.
Kristen Faulkner is already building toward LA
Two-time Paris Olympic champion cyclist Kristen Faulkner is also beginning another Olympic cycle.
Faulkner won gold in both the road race and team pursuit in Paris and has since returned to track competition as she builds toward Los Angeles.
Her path illustrates another aspect of the home-Games effect: athletes who succeeded in Paris do not have to imagine what winning an Olympic medal feels like. Instead, they are pursuing the possibility of experiencing that success in front of American supporters.
Could LeBron make one last Olympic appearance?
The same question is hovering over basketball.
LeBron James has previously indicated that Paris 2024 would be his final Olympics, but the prospect of Los Angeles has ensured speculation has not disappeared.
Recent reporting says USA Basketball would have a place available for James should he decide he wants to compete in 2028.
James would be 43 during the Los Angeles Games.
He already owns three Olympic gold medals and a bronze, meaning another appearance would be about legacy rather than establishing his international credentials.
Whether he actually plays remains uncertain.
But the fact that the possibility is still being discussed illustrates what Los Angeles represents to an older generation of American sporting stars.
Why a home Olympics is different
Olympians frequently describe competing at the Games as fundamentally different from world championships or professional competition.
A home Olympics magnifies that experience.
Athletes can compete in front of family members who might otherwise struggle to travel internationally. American supporters will dominate many venues, and U.S. athletes will spend years at the center of the country's Olympic promotion.
There is also rarity.
The United States has not hosted a Summer Olympics for more than three decades. An athlete who skips Los Angeles cannot simply wait for another American Summer Games four years later.
For competitors approaching the end of their careers, 2028 may therefore represent a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Los Angeles itself adds to the attraction
The city carries enormous Olympic history.
Los Angeles previously hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984. In 2028, it will become only the third city to host the Summer Olympics three times.
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will again play a central role, while SoFi Stadium will share opening ceremony duties. Competition will be spread across Southern California, with some events held elsewhere.
The Games will also feature an expanded sports program that includes baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash.
For Team USA, expectations will be enormous.
The hardest part remains making Team USA
None of the comeback stories guarantees an Olympic appearance.
The United States routinely fields some of the deepest Olympic teams in the world. In sports such as gymnastics, swimming, athletics and basketball, simply qualifying for Team USA can be nearly as difficult as reaching an Olympic final.
Age adds another obstacle.
Athletes attempting to extend careers must manage injuries, recovery and younger competitors improving around them.
The emotional attraction of Los Angeles may convince athletes to attempt another cycle.
It cannot guarantee their bodies — or the U.S. selection process — will cooperate.
LA28 is already shaping careers
There are still almost two years before the Olympic flame is lit in Los Angeles.
Yet the Games are already influencing major career decisions.
For younger athletes, LA28 represents the next destination.
For Paris medalists, it offers the possibility of defending Olympic titles at home.
And for veterans who believed their Olympic stories had ended, Los Angeles is presenting a question that can be difficult to ignore:
What if there is one more Games left?
That pull may ultimately become one of the defining stories of Team USA's road to 2028.