LA 28 chairman Casey Wasserman even made a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Palm Beach estate, in January, just days before the inauguration. FIFA president Gianni Infantino brought along the World Cup trophy on a visit to the Oval Office.

Only the “winners” are allowed to hold it, Infantino told Trump as he handed the trophy to the president.

Yet the fawning has not prevented Trump from threatening to move the Olympic Games out of Los Angeles and relocate World Cup matches from Blue State strongholds such as the Boston area, Seattle and the Bay Area.

“If I thought LA was not going to be prepared properly, I would move it to another location,” Trump told reporters earlier this month. “(California governor) Gavin Newsom, he’s got to get his act together.”

Trump cannot legally remove the Olympic Games from Los Angeles but the administration’s control over federal funding and visas could be used as leverage against Olympic and World Cup organizers to extract concessions that could threaten the integrity and success of the global events, according to current and former IOC members, Olympic historians and experts and current and former Los Angeles city and county officials told the Southern California News Group, and according to contracts and other documents related to the Olympics and World Cup.

“He’s the president of the United States and that’s the host nation, so you have to pay some attention to him,” said Dick Pound, a former IOC vice president from Canada. “But he does not own the Games, notwithstanding creating himself as chairman of whatever that committee is, the task force. He’s not in charge of the Games. The IOC would have to consent to any change. Not only the venues but the Olympic city. “

“There are a number of ways he can gum up the works,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, a long-time Los Angeles County board of supervisors member who was on the Los Angeles city council during the 1984 Olympic Games.

When asked if Trump could move the Summer Games out of Los Angeles, Penn State professor Mark S. Dyreson said, “Well, in a technical sense, no. The IOC controls the hosting of the Olympic Games. But he’s got a lot of power to make things miserable for the IOC if he wants to.

“He could just bar athletes from outside the U.S. from coming into the U.S. so it wouldn’t be much of an Olympics,” continued Dyreson, author of “Crafting Patriotism for Global Domination: America at the Olympic Games. “So I’m sure the IOC is pulling their hair out, wondering what’s going to happen.

“That image of him grabbing the World Cup trophy is scaring a lot of people.”

A trepidation toward Trump, if not outright fear, is evident in the hallways of FIFA and IOC’s Zurich and Lausanne headquarters and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Colorado Springs offices.

IOC, FIFA, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic and LA 28 officials, concerned about upsetting the president and his staff, have gone to great lengths to avoid or not directly answer questions about the potential Trump impact on Los Angeles hosting its third Olympic Games and the World Cup, newly expanded to 48 teams and played in 11 U.S. cities including Inglewood and Santa Clara as well as venues to Canada and Mexico.

IOC vice president Nicole Hoevertsz, who is overseeing Los Angeles’ preparations for the Games, referred questions about Trump to an IOC spokesperson who issued a statement on behalf of the organization: “The Olympic Games LA28 have the full support of the President of the United States, the Governor of California and the Mayor of Los Angeles. All of them are being extremely helpful in the preparations for these Games. This is mirrored on the operational level of the administration. There are three years to go, and we are confident that LA28 will be a great Olympic Games.”

The USOPC declined comment for this story.

“The President is doing everything to make the upcoming World Cup and Olympics the safest ever,” a White House official said in a statement to the SCNG.

“I try and keep really focused on doing our job,” Wasserman said during a recent conference at USC. “I try not to get caught up in the noise, because if you get caught in the noise, I think you lose your way a little bit.”

But it’s hard to tune out the noise when Trump continues to make statements threatening to send federal troops to Los Angeles during the Games, relocate the Games and move World Cup matches.

“We’ll do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe, including using our National Guard or military,” Trump said during an August 5 ceremony in which he signed an executive order creating a federal task force on the Olympics, which he will head. Trump also created a federal task force for the World Cup in May. He will serve as the chairman of the World Cup task force as well.

During the August ceremony, which was attended by Wasserman and Gene Sykes, the USOPC chairman and an IOC member, Trump referred to Mayor Karen Bass as “not very competent.”

“I think it’s part of the theater that is part of the Trump administration, unfortunately, and I just think we have to go about our business putting on the finest summer Games that the world has ever seen,” said Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Los Angeles City Council president and chairman of the council’s ad hoc committee on the Olympics, said in an interview with SCNG.

“Unfortunately, it causes a lot of insecurity and anxiety among our residents and businesses, especially. We’ve got businesses that are preparing and have been preparing for years to do business with the Olympics, with FIFA. So when you get a statement like that, obviously they get worried that perhaps their investment can be invalidated by the whims of one individual. But in terms of individuals on the city side doing the work, we continue to press ahead.

“My read on all of this, and it’s impossible to read the minds of people in the Trump administration, but all of this to me is just slow drip fascism. I think he’s trying to get the country to adjust to fascism. And if you study the history of fascism, this is what leaders do. That is what I see happening . Fortunately for all of us, not just for Angelenos, we see a great deal of resistance to that, whether it’s Chicago, Portland, here and Los Angeles and beyond, I think this will go on for some time.”

Some of that anxiety was also visible during the Los Angeles City Council’s ad hoc Olympic committee meeting on Wednesday.

“The president wants these Games to succeed,” LA 28 CEO Reynold N. Hoover said during the meeting.

“I think the administration is committed to a great Games, and I think, you know, as I’ve said before and said to members of Congress, there’s no better place than the city of LA to host the Games, and nobody else can do it to this size,” Hoover said later in a brief interview with SCNG.

But city council member Bob Blumenfield did not appear to share Hoover’s confidence in Trump.

“What I’m concerned about is, while they’re being cooperative now, at some point, they’re going to do what they’ve done with funding to universities and others, and they’re going to create a condition that we cannot meet,” Blumenfield told Hoover and LA 28 chief operating officer John Harper. “You know, they’re going to have a social issue, they’re going to trans issues or immigration issues or something like that. They have a history of doing (that) and make our money contingent or our security contingent on such a policy. What protections do we have in place to protect us against that kind of last-minute extortion?”

“What I can tell you is that up to this point, no one in the federal government, no one in the White House, and no one at the departments of agencies that we’ve met with has put a condition on any support for the Games,” Hoover responded. “I’ve spoken directly with FEMA leadership on the money, the billion dollars, and there are no conditions attached to those dollars.

“What the administration will do later?” Hoover continued, “I wouldn’t sit here and say or predict what they will do.”

Blumenfield was unmoved.

“You may be prepared,” he said. “I don’t trust this President to not do that. And yeah, so just just, we don’t need to vet a strategy here, but just please be vetting strategies about contingencies and ways we can protect ourselves.”

The Olympic Games are projected to generate $6.88 billion in revenue. Hoover said LA 28 has already secured $1.7 billion of its targeted goal of $2.5 billion in sponsorship revenue.

The World Cup will generate $8.9 billion in revenue, according to FIFA projections. The eight matches played at SoFi Stadium are projected to have a $594 billion economic impact on the Southern California market and generate $34.9 million in tax revenue within Los Angeles County, according to a study by an economic research and consulting firm commissioned by the Los Angeles World Cup host committee.

Those revenues would be greatly reduced if LA 28 or local organizing committees had to fully cover the cost of providing security for those events. Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act set aside $1 billion in federal funding for security at the 2028 Olympics.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced this week it was allocating $625 million in security funding to the 11 U.S. World Cup host cities.

“We can’t hide from the fact that you can’t deliver an Olympics without the full engagement of the federal government,” Wasserman said at the USC conference. “Everything we’ve asked them to do, they have done, and they have done so without conditions placed on them. They deserve a ton of credit for delivering and understanding what we need and not placing conditions on it.

“We need to double the size of LA Metro for 30 days and that’s only done with the Department of Transportation. We need the IRS to change tax laws so they don’t tax athletes for winning gold medals.”

Which gives Trump a lot of leverage, current and former IOC members and longtime Olympic and FIFA watchers maintain.

“Trump can really mess up some things, right?” said Holy Cross professor Victor Matheson, co-author of “Going for the Gold: The Economics of the Olympics.” “You know, he really does have a level of power in federal agencies like the State Department that are wildly problematic if the US government were to declare every single person coming in from a variety of World Cup countries to be national security threats. We seem to have given him pretty much carte blanche to do that sort of thing and impose billions of dollars of tariffs. If we’re willing to do that, he certainly has the ability to block soccer players from a bunch of different countries from coming in, which, of course, destroys the tournament. So he’s got that card to play.”

One card Trump can’t play is moving the Games out of Los Angeles, former and current IOC members and Los Angeles city and council officials said.

The Games were awarded to Los Angeles on September 13, 2017, by the IOC in an unprecedented move in which the 2024 Olympics were given to Paris at the same time. The IOC and the City of Los Angeles signed a host city contract in which any moving of venues requires approval of the IOC and the city. An agreement between the city and LA 28 also requires that any venue outside city be approved by the city council.

“LA won the Games fair and square based on our excellent proposal to the International Olympic Committee,” said Janice Hahn, a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors member. “This has been quite literally a decade in the making. The President can’t just move the Games.”

Pound, one of the most influential figures in the Olympic movement in the past 50 years, agreed.

“He can ask for the Games to be canceled because of the perceived civil unrest or whatever the vocabulary will be at the time,” Pound said, referring to Trump. “But he can’t say we’re going to put them in Kansas City. The Games are awarded to a city, and the city and the national Olympic committee and the USOPC have to form an organizing committee for the purpose of making all the necessary arrangements. You can move venues around. You can have an accident in the stadium and it’s no longer fit for the purpose, so you can say we’re going to do the basketball in some other venue. But you’re not at liberty to move the Games around from a city without the consent of the IOC and presumably the USOPC.

“In a sense, one of the things you have to do is separate what he says, because often it’s a very undisciplined series of utterances, and instead look at what he actually does. And that has been somewhat less threatening than all of this. But I mean to say, Los Angeles is too dangerous to hold the Games, frankly, is silly.”

Moving World Cup matches out of Seattle, Santa Clara or Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, outside of Boston, would be difficult but not impossible, Matheson said.

For one thing, the U.S. has a wealth of stadiums capable of hosting a World Cup match. The World Cup organizing committee had more than 40 stadiums on its initial list of candidate venues.

“I love the people of Boston. I know the games are sold out, but your mayor is not good,” Trump said when asked recently by reporters if he was serious about moving World Cup matches out of Foxborough, referring to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. “I think she is hurting Boston. The answer is yes: If somebody is doing a bad job, and if I feel there’s unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni, the head of FIFA, who’s phenomenal, and I would say, let’s move it to another location.”

“It probably is possible to move games, certainly FIFA games, it can be done, but it’s expensive, and it’s especially as expensive now because they’ve already started to sell large numbers of tickets, right, right?” Matheson said. “Moving the Olympics out of LA to Dallas would be impossible. So there are some things that are possible and easy, and so you do that to placate Trump, but you got to be careful about whether he’s going to follow through. And, you know, there are some things that are wildly expensive that you can’t just say, ”OK, fine, we’ll move all the games from Boston to, you know, to a city of more of my liking.’

“But the very suggestion that it should be moved (out of Foxborough) for national security reasons is simply untrue. It’s a lie.”

Boston has the lowest murder rate for any major NFL market, according to the most recent FBI statistics.

While Hoover said he and Wasserman have had talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio about a pathway that would make it easier for foreign athletes, officials and other individuals with Olympic-related jobs or duties to enter the U.S., the visa process remains a major concern for Olympic, World Cup and local officials.

“Given what he’s already doing with immigration and the State Department, you could see a scenario where he targets certain countries and just makes it almost impossible for the IOC to be willing to hold an Olympics in the U.S. in 2028,” Dyreson said. “He’s certainly not fond of California, it seems. It would be a huge PR disaster for him, but who knows what his calculations are.”

Trump is hardly the first difficult head of state the IOC and FIFA have had to deal with. And both FIFA and the IOC have been besieged by bribery scandals involving top organization officials and prominent members of local organizing committees.

While Trump cannot legally pull the Games from Los Angeles, under the terms of the host city contract, the IOC is “entitled to terminate the HCC and to withdraw the Games from the Host City, the Host (national Olympic committee) and the (local organizing committee),” although such a move would highly unlikely barring a natural disaster or pandemic.

Among the conditions for removing the Games, “a state of war, civil disorder, boycott, embargo decreed by the international community or in a situation officially recognized as one of belligerence or if the IOC has reasonable grounds to believe that the health or safety of participants in the Games would be seriously threatened or jeopardized for any reason.”

“The whole thing is a total and utter mess at the moment,” Dyreson said. “How much will the IOC bend? Will we be allowed to ban countries which oppose Trump’s policies or he considers enemies? How much will the IOC give up on this notion that it’s supposed to be a global celebration? It’s not free of politics. No one buys that notion. But can he keep out Venezuela or Colombia or Denmark, whoever he’s mad at at the moment? I think it has people’s heads spinning at the moment, and they are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst and how much do you have to placate his ego?”

Ultimately, the card the IOC, LA 28 and FIFA might have is playing to that ego.

“Trump desperately wants to be on TV in front of a billion people, and FIFA says, ‘Well, guess what? You’re not. You’re no longer welcome at this event in any way,’” Matheson said. “That’s a pretty powerful card to play against a president who desperately always wants to be in the center of attention. And this is literally the largest television audience of any single event on the planet in any given four-year period. That’s the World Cup. And of course, the same thing about the Olympics. Trump desperately wants to be a part of those opening ceremonies and the closing ceremonies, and desperately wants to be a star in these sort of things. So again, that’s what, obviously, what the IOC, that’s their card to play again, the IOC.”

“Would he really not let the Olympics come to the United States?” Dyerson said, “Because it’s going to be such a grand stage for him to prance around on. I can’t believe his ego would let him kill it.”

Said Yaroslavsky, Trump “craves attention. He craves to convince everyone that he’s in charge of everything. He just wants to be the center of attention.”

And that’s where Infantino and Wasserman have placed Trump.

At the ceremony announcing the Olympic task force, Wasserman presented Trump with a complete set of medals from the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

“Your support and the entire administration’s support through this entire process has truly been extraordinary,” Wasserman told Trump during the ceremony.

Wasserman referred to a December 2016 meeting with Trump, shortly after his election and nine months before IOC election that resulted in the 2028 Games being award to Los Angeles.

“You’ve been supportive and helpful every step of the way,” Wasserman said, “and we wouldn’t be here without you.”

Trump’s political allies haven’t just received Wasserman’s attention. Wasserman is a longtime and prominent financial backer of Democratic candidates nationwide. Since Los Angeles was awarded the Games in September 2017, he has contributed at least $3.68 million to candidates running for federal office, according to Federal Election Commission records.

But Wasserman has also contributed at least $182,000 to Republican candidates since October 2024. Since Trump’s inauguration, he has contributed $50,000 to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s PAC, $38,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee and $50,000 to the National Republican Senate Committee.

Wasserman also co-hosted with former Paramount Pictures chairwoman Sherry Lansing a September fundraiser for Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who is seen as one of the GOP’s most vulnerable candidates in the 2026 election. Tickets for the event at Lansing’s Bel Air home cost between $3,000 and $10,000.

Infantino’s courtship of Trump has led several publications to describe it as a “Bromance.” The FIFA president invited Trump to hand out medals to the winning players at the summer’s FIFA World Club Cup final. FIFA opened an office in Trump Tower in New York City over the summer. FIFA also switched December’s World Cup draw from the Sphere in Las Vegas to the Kennedy Center in Washington, a move suggested by the Trump administration and first announced by Trump in the Oval Office. Trump will be the guest of honor.

“Some people refer to it as the ‘Trump Kennedy Center,’ but we’re not prepared to do that quite yet,” Trump said. “Maybe in a week or so.”

Infantino has been a frequent guest at the Oval Office. He has met with Trump at least eight times since January, five times in the Oval Office, according to White House records. The president was wearing a red baseball cap that read “TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING” when Infantino, during an August Oval Office visit, placed the World Cup trophy in Trump’s hands.

The symbolism of the moment was not lost on IOC and FIFA officials.

“Can I keep it?” Trump asked.

NEW YORK (AP) — The stakes for all these U.S. skiers, skaters, snowboarders and sliders over the next 100 days could not be more clear.

A chance for Olympic glory.

A chance to compete for a gold medal.

And this year, for the first time, a chance to make $100,000.

Thanks to a recent record $100 million donation to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Foundation, athletes who make the U.S. Olympic or Paralympic teams starting next year in Milan-Cortina will be eligible to receive a $100,000 award when they retire.

It’s a game-changing piece of news for Olympic athletes, most of whom toil in obscurity outside of the two weeks the lights go on at the Games, and many of whom live in or near poverty: According to the foundation, some 57% of U.S. athletes earn $50,000 or less a year.

“At the age of 25, 26, I definitely was like: ‘I can’t do this to (my family) anymore. I can’t continue living in my car. I have student loans. I have to get on with my life,’” said biathlete Deedra Irwin, who is now 33 and has made ends meet by everything from dog sitting to joining the Vermont National Guard.

Though Wednesday marked the 100-days-out point on the Olympic calendar, only a small slice of the approximately 225 Olympic and 65 Paralympic spots on Team USA in Italy have been locked up.

The majority of those spots will be earned based on athletes’ finishes in upcoming World Cup events being held across the globe over the next few months.

So, while many of these athletes have heard the stories about how the Olympics can change their lives — usually through sponsorships, speaking engagements and talk-show appearances that spring from inspiring performances — never before has the promise of cold hard cash been dangled quite like this.

“As an athlete, you don’t put into a 401K,” Paralympian Oksana Masters said. “We don’t have those traditional jobs of paying into that kind of stuff. It’s about time that we’ve done this.”

There are a few catches, mostly that the money will be divided into four payments and won’t go into bank accounts until 20 years after the athletes retire, or when they reach 45 — whichever comes later. (The math is interesting for snowboarder Nick Baumgartner, who will be 44 next year and hopes to extend his career through Salt Lake City in 2034.)

The grant also funds a $100,000 life insurance policy for a beneficiary.

Both the award and the insurance are accrued each time an athlete makes the Olympics, meaning, for instance, someone who makes it three times would receive $600,000 in total benefits.

“We’ve received other transformational gifts, but this has reflected a shift in how we’re able to holistically care for our athletes,” USOPF president Christine Walshe said.

The $100 million came from Ross Stevens, the founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, a finance firm that focuses on “nontraditional” investment options such as crypto and fine art.

It was the biggest single donation to the USOPF, which started operation in 2013 — the brainchild of former Olympic leader Peter Ueberroth, who helped turn the Olympics into a moneymaker, in part out of necessity because the U.S. government does not fund its Olympic athletes.

With most of the next decade’s TV and sponsorship dollars accounted for, the foundation will need to bankroll improvements in athlete benefits for the foreseeable future. Walshe said the charitable arm is projecting to account for 27% of the USOPC’s revenue this Olympic cycle, compared to 12% from 2021-24.

The foundation’s contributions are directed toward athlete-centered programs that focus on performance and innovation, health and wellness, and career placement and economic mobility. Never before has the economic mobility part looked as simple as this: Make the Olympics, get $100,000.

“The $100,000 definitely motivates all of us to make that team,” cross-country skier Gus Schumacher said. “Cross-country isn’t generally huge money, and $100,000, especially for the people that maybe are on the edge of the team, is going to be a lot.”

MILAN (AP) — With 100 days to go until the start of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, preparations are going right down to the wire.

The ice hockey arena that is set to welcome back NHL players to the Olympics is still not ready and won’t be tested until less than a month before the first puck is dropped at the 2026 Games.

“There are some things that we are paying more attention to, monitoring them and then there are others that are absolutely completely ready,” Milan-Cortina organizing committee president Giovanni Malagò told journalists outside an event to celebrate the 100-day countdown on Wednesday.

“Being completely honest I would say that these 100 days are necessary, we need them but I don’t think that’s any different than any other big event, you always see people working even hours before the start to ensure it meets expectations.”

Readiness of the venues is not a new concern for the local organizing committee, which rebuilt the century-old sliding track in Cortina after tangling with the International Olympic Committee at length over the decision.

The controversial track is up and running, with the IOC even saying recently that the venue has “surpassed expectations.” It secured preliminary certification in March and test events are taking place through November.

“The sliding center was a very complicated item in that period. It is clear that we respected our promises. It was not so easy to obtain the faith from the international community — my colleagues in the IOC, the international federations,” Malagò said.

“They did a fantastic job and now we want to meet the same expectations with Santagiulia.”

However, a test event at the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena — the new, 16,000-seat venue that is being built on the outskirts of Milan — had to be moved, and new ones won’t be until Jan. 9-11.

The first Olympics match at the main hockey arena is the women’s preliminary round competition on Feb. 5, just one day before the opening ceremony.

“We are convinced that we will have a beautiful facility, and we will be ready to do the test event the first week of January, which will be very important because it has never been used,” Milan-Cortina CEO Andrea Varnier said.

“We need to test the ice, which is temporary not permanent, and also the function of the entire facility, which will be heavily visited.”

There are fewer concerns over other sites as the Milan-Cortina Games will be using mainly existing venues, with this the first Olympics to fully embrace cost-cutting reforms installed by former IOC President Thomas Bach.

That means that it will also be the most spread-out Winter Games in history.

But “the credibility of the venues,” Malagò said, compensates for the distance.

“What is fundamental is that the athletes want to compete in what is the temple of their own discipline. All these events have a recognized, first-class ranked venue … for me it was a good choice and I think for the athletes too,” he said.

Ticket sales

The 100-day mark launched the final phase of ticket sales.

Varnier said they have exceeded their own forecasts, selling more than 850,000 tickets to date. “Many sessions are sold out,’’ he said. In all, Milan-Cortina organizers are selling 1.4 million tickets for both the Feb. 6-22 Olympic Games and for the Paralympics running from March 6-15.

Podium party

Organizers also unveiled the two podiums for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the last of the design objects created for the Milan-Cortina Games after the medals, torches and posters.

The low-rise podiums are in a deep blue, with graphic elements meant to recall snow and ice. During the presentation, the two mascots, Tina and Milo, symbolically mounted the podiums.

A pair of stoat — or weasel — siblings, all-white Tina represents the Olympic Winter Games, while Milo, whose coat is brown, is the mascot for the Paralympic Winter Games.

A live camera pans in every direction along the Rettenbach glacier in Soelden, Austria — a way to show the snow status at the resort in the Alps. Instead of blankets of snow everywhere leading into a season-opening World Cup ski race, the images reflected a light dusting — thanks to a recent snowfall — over the rocks, rubble and dirt.

The notable exception was the majestic ribbon of mainly manufactured snow in place for the race last weekend. Granted, it’s early in the season in Soelden. But this sort of minimal-snow scene is playing out all over the planet. The current images at Copper Mountain in Colorado, which is hosting a series of races next month, show only a light coating of snow.

As Earth warms at a record rate, winters are shorter and milder and there is less snow globally, creating clear challenges for winter sports that depend on cold, snowy conditions. With 100 days until the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games begin, many athletes say climate change is shaping their training and perhaps even the future of their sport.

As snowboarder Bea Kim is focused on earning a spot to represent Team USA at the Winter Olympics, she’s also thinking about how long she will be able to do what she loves.

“I’m worried,” Kim said, “for the future of winter.”

Chasing the snow

Canadian freestyle skier Marion Thénault trains in the mountains close to her team’s home base in Quebec City. Two seasons ago, they couldn’t jump there until late in the season because there wasn’t enough snow. In January, they instead trained in Park City, Utah.

“We’re chasing the snow,” she said. “One of the things that is sad is we’re increasing our environmental impact by chasing the snow, so we’re also contributing to the problem.”

Air travel is a significant contributor to climate change because burning jet fuel releases carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere, warming the planet.

Thénault has reduced her own environmental impact by taking buses and trains instead of short flights, not flying home in between competitions and biking all summer. She is working with her sponsor, engineering firm WSP, on a proposal for clustering competitions geographically to reduce air travel.

“At this rate right now, we are not moving in the right direction,” she said. “But we can do something about it.”

Dealing with smoke and slush

When smoke from Canadian wildfires poured into the United States this summer, American cross country skier Julia Kern trained in a gym instead of roller skiing outside.

Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of wildfires around the world. As an elite athlete who relies on her lung strength to compete, Kern couldn’t risk breathing in unhealthy air.

“People often just think about the winter and the snowpack,” she said. “But we’re seeing impacts now in our sport also while we’re training in the summer.”

In the winter, Kern is purposefully training more often in slushy conditions because recent world championships have been warm and slushy. She has cut off the sleeves of her uniform at the start of races because it was warmer than she was acclimated to.

Kern uses her platform to advocate for climate action.

“Everyone has a chance to change our future for the better,” she said.

Having a backup plan

Southern Europe, where athletes, coaches and spectators will gather in 100 days, is one of the fastest warming regions. The amount the average winter temperature has risen there since 2000 is comparable to the amount of temperature increase in the Arctic, which is “eyepopping,” said Judah Cohen, a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who specializes in winter weather and forecasting.

The dramatic changes in the Arctic are complicating the impact of climate change elsewhere, Cohen added. Some places are now experiencing more severe winter weather with more snow because the rapid warming in the Arctic disrupts the polar vortex, sending frigid air south.

The inconsistent weather makes it more challenging to prepare athletes to compete at major events like the Olympics, said Sophie Goldschmidt, CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, who added that backup plans are needed.

“We’re having to be more flexible, which ultimately costs more money to make sure that our athletes can get the right and best conditions to train on at different points in the year,” she said. “And that means often changing plans and moving locations.”

The future of these sports is “directly tied to the health of our planet,” Goldschmidt added.

Fine line

Norwegian ski racer Aleksander Aamodt Kilde wants to make a difference with climate change. But the two-time Olympic medalist also realizes he races in a sport that travels the world to compete and uses tons of water to manufacture snow for races.

“I am deep down there for a climate specialist or activist. They probably look at me, saying, ‘You are not doing anything. You are a bad role model,’” Kilde said. “I wish I could do way more.”

“I am not an expert,” he added. “I am not a politician. I don’t know much about climate. I know what I do is skiing and that needs snow.”

On the home front

Growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, cross-country skier Gus Schumacher’s playground was always his backyard. He’d click into his skis and venture out into the snowy wilderness.

Last January, when he went home, there was barely any trace of snow. He said it was “pretty depressing.”

Schumacher is part of “Protect Our Winters,” an athlete-driven environmental group. He also spoke in March 2024 at a Senate hearing on climate change and its impact on outdoor recreation, an experience he found gratifying yet intimidating.

He notices climate change around Europe but especially in his Anchorage backyard.

“It’s pretty easy to tell where (glaciers) used to be by the vegetation growth and the rock,” Schumacher said. “That’s a pretty stark reminder.”

Rolling along

To train before the snow falls, members of the U.S. ski mountaineering squad rely on skis on wheels. There’s a paved canyon road in Utah the team uses for cardio work that’s about 2,500 feet (762 meters) of elevation gain.

Ski mountaineering, which makes its Olympic debut this winter, combines trekking uphill before transitioning to skiing downhill. It’s a race that sends the heart pounding.

That’s why Sarah Cookler, the head of sport for U.S. ski mountaineering, provides a shuttle service to transport members of the team to the bottom of the road. She picks them up at the top.

Anything to stay in tip-top shape given that reliable snow conditions are becoming less dependable. Same goes for race day, which is why competitions may need to be held at higher elevations.

In December, a World Cup ski-mountaineering event will be held at Solitude Mountain Resort in Utah. The elevation of the mountain’s base is 7,994 feet (2,437 meters) — higher than typical European races. To get acclimated, several international teams plan to arrive into Utah two weeks early.

“That’s just where we may have to go,” Cookler said. “There’s no (consistent) snow at low elevations anymore.”

Off and running

Of course, there’s always just going for a run. American ski mountaineer Cam Smith is doing more of that these days as a way to stay in endurance shape over the winter — just in case he can’t train on snow.

He’s noticed a difference at competitions in the Alps and Pyrenees.

“Being closer to the oceans, it’s been a huge difference there because they’ve gotten way more mid-winter rain,” Smith explained. “Not only is there less snow falling but then that’s washing away the snow already on the ground. It’s been really stark and noticeable.”

AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf and Associated Press Writer Eric Willemsen contributed.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

NEW YORK (AP) — Lindsey Vonn feels like she has “nothing to prove” in her bid to return to the Olympics at the age of 41, more than two decades since her first.

The American ski great with medals in multiple disciplines said Tuesday she’s not worried about tarnishing her legacy after coming out of retirement several years after she last competed.

“I don’t think anyone remembers Michael Jordan’s comeback,” Vonn said at the Team USA Olympic Media Summit ahead of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games. “I don’t think that tarnished his legacy at all. … I’ve already succeeded. I’ve already won.”

A partial knee replacement in the spring of 2024 paved the way for her return to racing with Vonn setting her sights on skiing in one of her favorite places in Cortina, where she got on the podium at a World Cup event for the first time and broke the Women’s World Cup wins record. She called it the perfect way to end her career.

“I don’t think I would have tried this comeback if the Olympics weren’t in Cortina,” Vonn said. “If it had been anywhere else, I would probably say it’s not worth it. But, for me, there’s something special about Cortina that always pulls me back and it’s pulled me back one last time.”

Vonn is set to train at Copper Mountain in Colorado in November and race again in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in December. Assuming she qualifies, she plans to compete in the downhill, super-G and team combined races.

“That’s dependent on results, but that is my intent,” Vonn said. “There’s not a world in which I would be happy with not qualifying for the Olympics. But I don’t think that’s in the cards.”

Vonn is aiming to be back at the Olympics, where she won downhill gold and super-G bronze at the 2010 Vancouver Games and downhill bronze at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games — what she thought was her final Olympics. She’s not shy in acknowledging how old she is compared to U.S. teammates and rivals and how her training has changed but insisted she is not satisfied with just participating.

Eating better and feeling no pain in her right knee helped Vonn train better and smarter than in her younger days.

“I think I’m in potentially the best shape of my life, which is saying something at my age,” Vonn said. “Because of my knee replacement, I literally can do anything I want to do. I’m not restricted.”

Mentally, Vonn is in a different place than she was when she made her Olympic debut at 17 at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. Sure, the nerves are still there, but she’s driven now by adrenaline and not worried about the weight of expectations.

“I’m the harshest critic of anyone,” Vonn said. “No matter what expectation the world has on me, I definitely have higher expectations.”

When Vonn speaks with her father, he has a different perspective on the challenge in front of her.

“My dad says it’s the most pressure I’ve ever had in my whole life,” Vonn said. “I don’t t feel like I have a lot of pressure.”

___

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics

Posters have been commissioned for the Olympics since the early 20th century, becoming a piece of Olympic history. This year’s designs are the work of Italian artists Olimpia Zagnoli and Carolina Altavilla.

Zagnoli’s “Olympic Vision,” a brightly colored poster for the Feb. 6-22 Games, features a central figure looking through glasses fashioned as Olympic rings against the backdrop of white mountain caps. Zagnoli said her poster captures both her hometown Milan’s sense of style and Cortina’s mountain location, while celebrating spectators and athletes alike.

Altavilla’s untitled poster for the Paralympic Games (March 6-15) depicts all six Paralympic Winter sports pulsing with movement and in a clash of pinks, blues and chartreuse. An image of Milan’s Duomo cathedral sits in foreground, and the athletes are crowned by three curved, comma-like symbols dubbed “Agitos,” Latin for “I move.”

Large versions of the posters will be on display along with the official torches at Milan’s Triennale design museum and other sites during the Winter Games. Smaller versions sell for 35 euros (nearly $41.)

The Milan-Cortina organizers previously released 10 artistic posters by five female and five male artists over the summer, also on display at the Triennale.

According to numerous sources familiar with the process, Spoelstra will be named the next coach of the USA Basketball senior national men’s team, taking over from Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr.

A party familiar with the process said a vote by USA Basketball is expected to formalize the announcement likely within the next week.

A presence with the national team during the coaching tenures of Gregg Popovich and Kerr, Spoelstra next will be charged with turning his championship pedigree with the Miami Heat into Team USA Olympic gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The USA Basketball role also would have Spoelstra coaching Team USA at the 2027 World Cup in Qatar.

In July 2021, Spoelstra took on his first USA Basketball coaching responsibility as head coach of the 2021 USA Select Team that trained with and against the 2020 U.S. Olympic team that would win gold in Tokyo.

Then, on Dec. 20, 2021, Spoelstra was announced as an assistant coach for the 2022-24 national team cycle under Kerr, alongside Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue and Gonzaga coach Mark Few.

From the start, Spoelstra, 54, has made clear he would serve in whatever USA Basketball role was requested.

“It felt like a pinch myself moment to be asked to be a part of USA Basketball’s program,” he has said of the experience. “It’s something that I dreamt about for a long time. It has an illustrious history, and we’ve all followed the history of the U.S. program for a long time.

“There’s some historic moments and teams, and you just never think that you’re gonna have an opportunity to be a part of it, so it’s a dream come true.”

pic.twitter.com/6Z7UoZ1rvF

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) August 10, 2024

Lue had been considered the other finalist to replace Kerr, who made clear ahead of the 2024 Olympics that he would be stepping down from the national team.

As assistant coach, Spoelstra helped lead the USA Men’s National Team, including at all training camps, exhibitions, the 2023 FIBA World Cup and the 2024 Olympics, where the result was a gold medal at those Paris Games.

The U.S. National Team has a 21-3 record during Spoelstra’s time with the program.

Spoelstra’s previous honors include in 2022 being named one of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History during the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Season. In 2017, he shared the National Basketball Coaches Association inaugural Michael H. Goldberg Coach of the Year Award with Mike D’Antoni.

Spoelstra’s Heat resume includes coaching the team to NBA championships in 2012 and ’13, as well as recent Heat appearances in the 2020 and ’23 NBA Finals. He is the longest-serving NBA coach with his current team, about to enter his 18th season leading the Heat.

Among those Spoelstra helped coach to 2024 Games gold was Heat center Bam Adebayo, who again could be part of the Olympic mix in 2028.

No previous Heat coach, including Heat president Pat Riley, has served as an Olympic head coach.

Poll praise

Speaking of Spoelstra, the annual NBA.com survey of league general managers that was released Thursday voted him the best coach in the league. Spoelstra also placed first in the category in last year’s preseason GM poll.

Spoelstra also was voted “best manager/motivator of people,” tying for third for in-game adjustments and placing third for defensive schemes.

In the coaching portion of the survey, the Heat’s Chris Quinn tied for fourth as best assistant coach.

Elsewhere in the poll, the Heat were projected not to be among the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference, with Heat No. 20 pick Kasparas Jakucionis ranked as the biggest steal of the draft.

Rooting interest

The Heat’s rooting interest in the WNBA Finals became further evident immediately after Wednesday night’s preseason loss to the San Antonio Spurs, when the locker room paused to watch A’ja Wilson’s decisive basket that staked the Las Vegas Aces to a 3-0 lead in that best-of-seven series against the Phoenix Mercury.

Adebayo, who has referred to Wilson as his “significant other,” watched the play separately and then returned to the locker room and noted, “job’s not finished yet.” Game 4 of that series is Friday.

When it comes to making travel plans for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, you may still be crouched at the starting blocks. But the race for flights, hotel reservations and event tickets will begin in 2026, long before the Games commence.

If you’re planning to visit Southern California for LA28, preparation will be crucial. And a little positive thinking wouldn’t hurt. As Winnipeg-based sports tour operator Dave Guenther of Roadtrips says, the Olympic cycle often feels like “two or three years of cynicism followed by two weeks of unbridled joy.”

As the days tick down to the L.A. Olympics (July 14-30, 2028) and Paralympics (Aug. 15-27, 2008), we’ll be answering the most important travel questions. We’ll be adding updates as new information comes in, so be sure to bookmark this guide.

Getting tickets to the Games

When will tickets for the Olympic Games go on sale?

Beginning in January, fans can register to enter the lottery for Olympic tickets at the organizing committee’s website, la28.org. If selected in the random draw, organizers say, fans will receive a purchase time and date for when ticket drops begin in spring 2026. Organizers say those in communities near Games venues will get early access. See a broader outline of LA28’s ticket schedule here.

Also in early 2026, LA28 will start offering hospitality packages that combine event tickets with overnight accommodations, transportation and/or special events. Tickets for the Paralympic Games will go on sale in 2027.

More details are expected later this year. Anyone interested can sign up to receive announcements through the LA28 newsletter.

What will tickets cost?

Organizers say Olympic and Paralympic competition tickets will start at $28, about $2 more than they did in Paris in 2024. We don’t know the high end yet. If Paris is a fair guide, most-coveted seats for the most popular events could be as high as $800 or more. The official vendors are also expected to manage a channel for resales of tickets, as they did in Paris.

The two most costly events are likely to be the opening and closing ceremonies. In Paris, per-ticket prices reached more than $2,900 for the opening, and more than $1,700 for the closing. In Los Angeles — for the first time — the opening ceremonies will be split between two venues, the L.A. Coliseum and SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

Some of the toughest tickets, Guenther said, are gymnastics, swimming, track and field, and beach volleyball. “If you are super keen on seeing the women’s gymnastics finals, you might be on a path to disappointment,” Guenther said. “But if you’re flexible, there are a lot of things that are going to be options.”

Can I volunteer at the Games?

You can try. Recent Summer Olympics have relied upon tens of thousands of volunteers, who must meet language and training requirements. (Not every aspiring volunteer in Paris got assigned.) To stay in touch with volunteer opportunities, sign up for the LA28 newsletter.

Where will the Games happen?

The 2028 festivities will include 36 Olympic sports and 23 Paralympic sports, spread over about 40 venues. The lion’s share of Olympic events will take place in downtown L.A. and Exposition Park (which together have 10 venues); Long Beach (seven venues); Carson; Inglewood; the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys.

But events are also scheduled in San Clemente, Venice, Anaheim, Pacific Palisades, Pomona and the City of Industry. The Paralympics will use many of the same venues. Indeed, this could be a learning experience for out-of-towners who don’t realize just how broadly Greater Los Angeles sprawls.

The softball and canoe slalom events will be held in Oklahoma City.

Flights, hotels and Airbnbs

How far ahead can I book flights?

Most airlines usually start accepting bookings 330 days (or 11 months) before the flight date. At Southwest Airlines, lead time can be eight to 10 months.

How far ahead can I book a hotel?

Ordinarily, hotels start accepting bookings 365 days ahead, so if you’re just looking for a room (and not a ticket-and-hotel package), set a reminder for around July 2027. Many hotels in Greater Los Angeles — especially those unaffiliated with global brands — are likely to follow their usual timetables. If you’re interested in a hotel-ticket combo deal, those will be offered in early 2026, as previously mentioned.

Industry veterans say most major hotels around Los Angeles have probably already made deals allotting blocks of 2028 rooms to organizers of the Games or independent tour operators like Roadtrips. For example, the Queen Mary in Long Beach already has 300 rooms and suites under contract with LA28, according to managing director Steve Caloca.

Another opportunity may arise even later: Typically, organizers and tour operators often return unsold room-nights to hotel control 60 or 90 days ahead of the event, which may give consumers a chance to book those “leftovers” directly, perhaps at a lower cost.

What will hotel rooms cost?

Nothing boosts hotel prices like the Olympics, and experts say the most luxurious hotels tend to hike their prices the most. Analyzing figures from Paris, hotel industry consultants CoStar found that average hotel rates — $342-$393 in the summer of 2023 — more than doubled to $731-$939 for the 2024 Games.

L.A.’s starting hotel rates are lower than those in Paris were. CoStar found that average daily hotel rates for greater L.A. from July 14-30, 2024, were $193-$231.

What about short-term rentals?

Again, expect prices to soar. Airbnb reported a 40% jump in accommodations inventory and a 400% jump in Paris-area bookings during the 2024 Games. On the eve of the Games, property management website Hostify.com reported that asking prices for short-term rentals in Paris had quintupled from $154 nightly to $772.

Do note that at every Games, it seems, there are reports of astronomical prices, followed by later reports of 11th-hour discounts because some people got too greedy earlier on.

Los Angeles seems to be starting out with higher short-term rental rates than those in Paris. The vacation rental website Airroi.com estimates the average Airbnb rate in greater Los Angeles for the year ended August 2025 was $283.

But of course, you can spend plenty more. One broker told The Times he has already rented out an L.A. mansion for $300,000 a month in 2028.

How far ahead can I book a short-term rental?

Airbnb allows bookings up to two years in advance, which is also VRBO’s default setting.

Will tensions between major L.A. hotels and union workers surface during the Olympics?

Hard to say. The L.A. City Council in May approved a measure requiring many hotels to raise their minimum wage to $30 hourly by July 2028. A business group started a petition drive seeking to undo the measure but fell short earlier this month.

Could President Trump’s immigration policies affect the Games?

That’s anybody’s guess. Heads of state in host countries usually play a ceremonial role, standing mostly in the background. Trump may have other ideas. In early August, he announced that he would chair a task force in charge of Olympic safety, border security and transportation.

Some foreign sports fans might stay away to signal opposition to the Trump Administration, as many Canadian travelers have been doing this year. But domestic travelers, not foreign visitors, fill most seats at the Olympics. Paris tourism statistics show U.S. visitors to that city during the 2024 “Olympic fortnight” were up a relatively modest 13% over the previous year.

Why do people go through so much trouble to see the Games?

“There is a tremendous magic,” Guenther said. “It really is quite something how people enjoy the time together with people from all over the world. … You find yourself welling up for an athlete in a sport you’ve never thought about.”

(Times staff writer Thuc Nhi Nguyen contributed to this report.)

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

General admission tickets will start at $28, with sales managed by LA28’s official ticketing providers, AXS and EVENTIM. In addition, curated hospitality packages and ticket-inclusive experiences, will be available next year through On Location, the official and exclusive hospitality partner for the Games

Fans can register for the Olympic Games tickets at la28.org beginning in January. A randomized draw system will assign purchase time slots for each round of ticket drops. Early access opportunities will be available for residents in communities near official LA28 venues.

The phased rollout marks the first time tickets will be available for the 2028 Games, which are expected to bring more than 15,000 athletes and millions of spectators to the Golden State.

“The LA28 Games will be an opportunity to purchase a ticket to history,” said Reynold Hoover, CEO for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. “Whether you’re a local family attending your first Olympic or Paralympic event, or a global traveler joining us for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, there really will be something for everyone across our suite of ticket options and hospitality packages.”

The Olympic Games will run from July 14 through July 30, 2028, followed by the Paralympics from Aug. 15 to Aug. 27. Events will be held at iconic venues including the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, SoFi Stadium, the Rose Bowl, the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area and others across the Southern California area including Long Beach and Orange County.

Los Angeles will become the third city in history to host the Olympics three times, having previously hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984. The only other two cities to do so are London (1908, 1948, 2012) and Paris (1900, 1924, 2024). LA28 will also mark the city’s first time hosting the Paralympics.

Organizers said the 2028 edition will feature a number of firsts — including a higher percentage of women athletes than men, the introduction of new Olympic and Paralympic sports, and the distinction of being the first Games since 1948 to rely entirely on existing or temporary venues, with no new permanent infrastructure planned.

More information, including registration, ticket draw process and hospitality details, will be released later this year. In the meantime, fans can sign up for updates at la28.org.

Here’s how to get started:

• Subscribe for updates: Sign up for the LA28 newsletter to receive the latest on ticket sales, registration timelines and hospitality package availability.
• Register to buy: Registration is required to purchase general tickets. The registration window for Olympic tickets opens in January 2026; registration for Paralympic tickets opens in 2027.
• Ticket access will be via a draw: After registering, fans will be entered into a draw process that assigns a time slot to buy tickets during upcoming ticket drops.
• Local fans get early access: Residents near Games venues will receive early access opportunities.
• Hospitality packages go on sale early: Starting in early 2026, official LA28 hospitality and travel packages will be sold on a first come, first-served basis through On Location via https://hospitality.la28.org/en, including benefits like guaranteed accommodations, venue transportation, premium seating and curated in-venue and out-of-venue experiences.

GENEVA (AP) — The names of experts appointed to an Olympic panel looking at female gender issues ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are not being revealed, the IOC said on Friday.

A working group on “Protection of the Female Category” in sports was promised by the International Olympic Committee’s first female president Kirsty Coventry when she was elected in March.

A key campaign theme was the IOC taking more strategy-setting responsibility in fallout from the furor around women’s boxing at the Paris Summer Games that was widely used then and since as a culture war issue, including by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The governing bodies of boxing and track and field now require female athletes to take sex tests, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee in July effectively banned transgender women from Olympic sports to comply with an executive order by the Trump administration.

“The names of the members of the working group will remain confidential for now to protect the integrity of the group and their work,” the IOC said in a statement.

The female protection panel was announced on Friday among four expert groups — the others are reviewing Olympic sports programs and calendars, commercial issues, and the Youth Olympics — but the only one in which the list of members was kept secret.

No timetable was given for the panels’ work which is intended to start “as soon as possible,” the IOC body said, under the project banner “Fit for the future.”

Olympic program and dates

The panel for Olympic sports will look at the global calendar at a time of changing climate and a widespread expectation the 2036 Summer Games will move from the traditional July-August slot.

Candidates to host then include India and Qatar, though the panel’s stated remit on Friday did not include details of who, how and when to evaluate the 2036 bids. Many IOC members are known to want more input in a process that was opaque before Brisbane was selected as the 2032 host.

“It will also consider the suggestion that traditional summer or winter sports could cross over, the timing of the Games, and the sports calendar,” the IOC said.

The panel includes two members who successfully organized Olympics: Sebastian Coe in London in 2012 and Tony Estanguet in Paris last year.

The group could be tasked to look at more efficiently adding or removing sports and events from the Olympic programs.

Sponsor value

The working group on commercial and marketing issues, including IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch, will review how the Olympic Games “engages with partners, and how it can evolve and ensure that it is fit for today’s competitive market.”

Olympic venues are currently almost entirely clean of the names of IOC sponsors, who include equipment providers, though product placement was a growing trend in Paris.

The IOC also suggested it wants to generate more revenue from its Olympic Channel and in-house broadcasting production operation in Madrid.

The Youth Olympics panel has been asked to “look at the potential and relevance” of the event, and shape the process of picking a host for 2030, the IOC said.