When the Olympic Games are hosted in Los Angeles in 2028, they will be held in the San Fernando Valley for the first time.
No events were held in the Valley when Los Angeles was the host city in 1932 and 1984, but that will change four years later.
BMX, skateboarding and archery will be held at Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area.
This news is exciting not only for the many who live and work in the Valley region, but also for fans of sports like BMX that originated in Southern California.
“There’s a lot of local BMX history. A lot of the early professional tracks were here. A lot of the BMX manufacturers were here,” said Tommy Gelinas, founder of the Valley Relics Museum, which has a section dedicated to BMX.
“We’re very excited,” Gelinas said. “We’ve been involved since the early days of BMX becoming an Olympic sport, and now to have it come back to the Valley, it’s like we’ve come full circle.”
San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce President Nancy Hoffman Vanjek knows the Olympics will be great for people and business.
“We’re the perfect host. If the city of Los Angeles has a population of 4 million and we have 2 million people living in this city, we’re the perfect host and hostess for people coming into our community,” Hoffman Vanjek said. “We’re five cities, but it’s mostly the city of Los Angeles. Calabasas, San Fernando, Glendale, Burbank, Hidden Hills. All the smaller cities are going to be affected as well, whether it’s people going to restaurants, people staying in hotels, everything’s going to trickle down into these areas.”
Though it’s still four years away, people in the Valley seem almost ready for the Olympics.
“How exciting it is to see all of this happening and evolving in the four years leading up to the next Olympics,” Gelinas said, “especially that the sport of BMX started here and now it’s getting attention all over the world, that’s huge for us.”
