San Fernando Valley secures role in 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Los Angeles officials have confirmed that for the first time, the San Fernando Valley will host Olympic competitions during the 2028 Games—events that were blocked in 1984—via temporary venues in the Sepulveda Basin (Valley) Recreation Area. BMX, skateboarding, 3x3 basketball, and modern pentathlon are now slated for this location.

Valley city council members and business leaders plan a flurry of activity around the Games: watch parties, youth sports clinics and pin-trading gatherings. Their goal is to drive traffic into local restaurants, stores, and other businesses.

Valley residents originally waged a successful campaign against Olympic venues in 1984, citing concerns about traffic, development and environmental impact to the Basin's 2,000-acre flood-plain bird habitat. Businesses also missed opportunities, as many tourists avoided the Valley and locals watched the Games on TV instead.

“During ’84, I remember being this young girl in the Northeast San Fernando Valley and feeling completely disconnected [from the Olympics],” Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said at a Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce event. She recalled her father, who served near USC’s Olympic Village during the '84 Games, returning home with stories about the festivities.

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, recounting his personal memories from 1984, said he once sneaked into a men’s gymnastics final by walking the wrong way through an exit door, and even sat just a few rows behind actor John Travolta.

For 2028, Blumenfield plans watch parties in his district and hopes spectators will ride the G Line to events at the Basin and stop at local businesses along the way. “We want the Olympics to be part of the whole city, including the West Valley,” he said.

The decision to include Valley venues this time contrasts sharply with 1984. City council at that time, influenced by a measure proposed by former councilmember Bob Ronka to block public funding of Valley sites, effectively cut the region out of the Games. “So we didn’t put anything [in the Valley]. Why row the boat uphill?” said Rich Perelman, former vice president of press operations for the ’84 Olympic committee. Zev Yaroslavsky reflected, “The Valley was left out of any part of the Games. Most people would probably say it was a mistake.”

Even though no competitions were held there in 1984, Birmingham High School (now Birmingham Community Charter in Lake Balboa) received a synthetic-surface running track for athlete training—a rare lasting benefit to the Valley.

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