Flag football on pace to become an Olympic event

Organizers for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles will formally propose flag football as an Olympic event.

The International Olympic Committee meets over the weekend in Mumbai, India to decide which sports will be played when the worldwide competition returns to the United States for the first time since 2002, when Salt Lake City, Utah hosted the Winter Games. The U.S. last hosted the Summer Games in Atlanta in 1996.

Competition would consist of 5-on-5 games where athletes wearing belts with tear-away flags would try to carry the ball across a 50-year field without having any of their flags taken by an opponent.

The U.S. men’s flag football team won the sport’s gold medal at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Ala. with a victory over the Italian national team. The women’s team earned silver after being defeated by Mexico.