The only cars at the 2028 Summer Olympics will be those sitting in the infamous Los Angeles traffic. A Monday report from The Guardian revealed six sports will be added by Los Angeles organisers to the 2028 programme to be ratified at the 141st International Olympic Committee Session in Mumbai on 15–17 October; although motorsport was on the shortlist to be included, it was left out of the final proposal.
American flag football, baseball and softball, cricket, lacrosse, and squash make up the final pitch, being selected from a shortlist that featured auto racing, breakdancing, karate, and kickboxing.
Despite motorsport’s global popularity, it only appeared once in the Olympics at the 1900 Games in Paris conducted alongside the World’s Fair. Medals were awarded for fourteen events of varying vehicle types including two- and four-seaters meeting certain weights, taxicabs, delivery vans, trucks, and even fire trucks. A 925-mile (14,88.64 km) race from Paris to Toulouse and back was won by Louis Renault (small car) and Alfred Velghe (large), which the Belfast News Letter called the “most sensational motor-car race ever decided.” Motorcycle and motorboat races also took place, the latter later returning at the 1908 Olympics in London.
However, none of these are officially considered part of the Olympic programme. In the century since, the Olympic Charter prevented any possibility of racing becoming an Olympic sport with Rule 47.4.2 that stated, “Sports, disciplines or events in which performance depends essentially on mechanical propulsion are not acceptable,” though this provision has since been removed.
The World Games, for disciplines not at the Olympics, had motocross and speedway at the 1985 edition, with speedway later being brought back for the 2017 Games. However, each instance was as an invitational sport.
