Los Angeles 2028 -LA28- is preparing to stage the city’s first Paralympic Games, with the intention of ensuring that the event’s sporting growth is accompanied by a more accessible experience for athletes and spectators. Around 4,480 athletes will compete across 23 sports and 560 medal events, the most extensive programme since Seoul 1988.
The project is not limited to adapting stadiums to comply with US regulations. Accessibility is being incorporated into venue selection, accommodation, transport, ticketing, technical assistance and legacy programmes. Some of these measures have already been defined, while venue maps, parts of the transport operation and other services still need to be finalised.
Accessibility from the first decision
One of the people responsible for that strategy is Ileana Rodriguez, a former Paralympic swimmer, architect and accessibility consultant who now serves as LA28 Vice President of Paralympic Strategy and Relations. Rodriguez competed at London 2012 before establishing her own consultancy. “For me, my job at LA28 is almost an extension of what I was doing as a consultant. It kind of is the perfect combination of my career as an architect but also as an athlete,” she explained in an interview with Forbes.
That dual perspective has led Rodriguez to argue that Paralympic requirements should be considered from the outset, rather than after venues have already been selected. She explained that the organising committee assessed Olympic venues while also considering which Paralympic sports they would host, “with an accessibility lens added to it”. Nor is her objective simply to create functional spaces: “I always saw all these places accessible, but looking like hospitals, honestly.” Her aim is therefore to develop venues that do more than comply with regulations and genuinely work for the people who will use them.
Planning intended to reach the whole city
The city has signed a Host City Accessibility Commitment, is developing a Games Accessibility Plan and has created an accessibility leadership position within its Office of Major Events for the first time. The intention is to incorporate these requirements into programmes, services, facilities, information and transport connected with LA28. Mayor Karen Bass has presented the process as an opportunity to guarantee equal access and leave improvements that benefit residents beyond the competitions. “We are working across City departments and alongside private partners to develop and implement a Games Accessibility Plan so that L.A. hosts the most accessible Games possible,” she said.
The venue plan has also been designed with that objective in mind. Every competition venue will be located within an approximately 35-mile radius, with Downtown Los Angeles, Exposition Park, Long Beach and Carson serving as the main areas of activity. The Memorial Coliseum will stage Para athletics; the Downtown Convention Center will host boccia, Para judo, Para table tennis, Para taekwondo and wheelchair fencing; while Long Beach will stage sports including Para climbing and Para swimming. This concentration reduces the number of isolated venues and is intended to shorten journeys from the UCLA Athletes’ Village. Competitors from every sport will also be able to stay together, something that has not happened at a Paralympic Games since Rio 2016.
Tickets, accessible routes and technical assistance
LA28 has defined wheelchair spaces, semi-ambulatory seating for people with limited mobility and adjacent companion seats. Each person with a disability will be able to purchase up to three companion tickets per order without having to provide supporting documentation during the purchase. Paralympic tickets will become available in 2027. Accessible routes and transport options have also been announced for each venue, although detailed maps and instructions will be published as planning progresses.
The athlete experience also includes support when technical problems could affect participation. Ottobock will be the official provider of prosthetic, orthotic and wheelchair repair services, which will be offered free of charge during the Games. LA28 also established its Athletes’ Commission with nine Olympians and nine Paralympians to incorporate their experience into organisational decisions. Rodriguez served on the commission before taking up her current executive role.
More competition and a legacy still being built
Para climbing will make its debut with 80 athletes and eight events after LA28 became the first organising committee to propose the addition of a sport to the Paralympic programme. The schedule will feature more than 1,100 hours of competition and begin before the Opening Ceremony on 15 August: wheelchair rugby will start two days earlier and boccia one day earlier, without any athlete being eliminated before the ceremony. Women will receive 45% of the athlete quota places, the most gender-balanced allocation in Paralympic Games history. International Paralympic Committee -IPC- President Andrew Parsons has linked the growth in full-time athletes, the use of sports science and greater competitive depth to the evolution of the spectacle. “I have never been more excited about the level of sport performance within the Paralympic Movement than I am with two years to go until LA28. Without doubt, LA28 will be the best Paralympic Games yet for sport by some margin with many new superstar athletes emerging and winning medals.” Rodriguez summarised the same priority: “They’re athletes with a disability, but the athlete piece comes first.”
Part of the legacy is already operating through PlayLA, a youth and adaptive sports programme supported by a $160 million investment from LA28 and the International Olympic Committee -IOC-. It provides free or heavily discounted activities at municipal facilities and has exceeded one million enrolments. Between now and 2028, the Accessibility Plan, venue maps and numerous transport and service details must still be completed. Rodriguez summarised the ambition to integrate the Olympic and Paralympic experiences: “It’s one Game, it is the LA28 Games.”
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