LA Mayor Bass declares 2028 Olympics as a ‘Games for All’ at City Hall ceremony

Vowing to make the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics the “games for all” people, Los Angeles city officials and organizers of the 2028 Summer Games held a ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 12 at City Hall to celebrate the return of the Olympic flag to the City of Angels and – for the first time – the arrival of the Paralympic flag.

More than 200 people – including over 40 former Olympians and Paralympians who participated in games as long ago as 1968 – attended to celebrate Los Angeles as host of the next Summer Games. In 2028, L.A. will host the Olympics for the third time and the Paralympics for the first time.

Last month, Mayor Karen Bass was handed the official Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris and returned home with the flag aboard a plane with several dozen Olympians representing Team USA.

And earlier this week she returned home to L.A. with the Paralympic flag after receiving it during the Paralympics closing ceremony held on Sunday.

“Today, as we take responsibility for these flags here in Los Angeles and for the next four years, we take on the responsibility of lifting up the values of the Olympic movement. It is in that spirit that we believe the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles will be a ‘Games for All,’” Bass said in a speech during Thursday’s flag installation ceremony.

With “Games for All” as the theme of Thursday’s ceremony, Bass said she wants an Olympics that benefits all Angelenos – from supporting local small businesses and stimulating the economy to making lasting improvements to the environment and the region’s mass transportation system.

“We want to live up to that declaration so that all Angelenos in every corner of our city benefit from the major global event – not just during the summer of 2028 but starting now and for decades to come,” she said.

Thursday’s ceremony began with a taiko drum performance by the J-Town Taiko Club in Los Angeles, a land welcoming by Chief Anthony Morales of the Gabrieleno-San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians, and a performance by members of Inner City Youth Orchestra, the largest majority-Black orchestra in America. The orchestra played the U.S. National Anthem and a rendition of John Williams’ Olympic Fanfare and Theme.

Later in the ceremony, participants caught a demonstration of wheelchair fencing, and speakers talked of their hopes that the 2028 Paralympic Games will shine a spotlight on adaptive sports.

Casey Wasserman, CEO of LA28, the organizing committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, said Thursday that there are 1,401 days left until the opening ceremony of the 2028 Olympic Games.

“We’re ready to deliver a Games that will celebrate the beauty of Los Angeles, positively impact all areas and all communities in Los Angeles, create a sense of shared pride in our city and our country, and leave the Olympic and Paralympic Games better than we found them,” he said.

Several members of the L.A. City Council, business and community leaders, athletes and others were in attendance at the flag installation ceremony.

Although the event was by invitation only, an Olympics-themed exhibit outside the mayor’s office at City Hall is now open to the public. The exhibit features memorabilia from the 1932 and 1984 Olympics – when L.A. hosted the Summer Games – and a glass-encased display of the Olympic and Paralympic flags.