The women’s 100-meter final will headline the opening day of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics—an unexpected move that Olympic organizers are calling their plan to “open with a bang.” For the first time, all three rounds—the heats, semifinals, and final—will take place on the same day at the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a venue that hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984.

Track And Field Is Having A Moment

American sprint star Sha’Carri Richardson, the reigning world champion in the 100 meters, welcomed the news as a sign of the times. “Track and field is having its moment,” she said. “To have the women’s 100 headline the first day? That’s history right there.” The timing of the race—exactly 100 years after women first competed in Olympic track and field—is rich with symbolism. Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, one of Richardson’s biggest rivals and a world champion in her own right, called it “an exciting opportunity” to celebrate “the enduring legacy, strength, and global power of women’s sprinting.”

Runners Are PUMPED

Traditionally, sprinters only run twice a day, but World Athletics officials said they consulted extensively with athletes before finalizing the plan. “When we presented it to the athletes as the preeminent event on the first night of competition, there was excitement,” said Janet Evans, LA28’s chief athlete officer. “A majority told me, ‘Just let me know early, and I’ll train to run three 100s in one day.’” Evans and her team are betting that the event’s intensity—the fatigue, the pressure, the pure adrenaline—will only heighten its drama. In an age when Olympic viewership is competing with a thousand other screens, few things promise more electricity than the fastest women on Earth deciding gold under the California lights.

Track And Field Will Define The 2028 Games

World Athletics president Seb Coe said the move reflects a delicate balance between innovation and tradition. “We have landed on an athletics program that will start with a bang as our women’s sprinters take center stage,” he said. “It’s a schedule that honors history while pushing the sport forward.” The schedule has also been designed to allow for more “doubling up”—athletes competing in multiple events like the 100m and 200m or the 800m and 1500m—though it will complicate other ambitions. The timing makes it unlikely that U.S. superstar Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will be able to contest both the 400m flat and the 400m hurdles, since their key rounds overlap. For decades, swimming has traditionally opened the Games, but with the pool events now taking place at SoFi Stadium—also the site of the opening ceremony—swimming will start in week two. That shift leaves athletics with a symbolic opportunity to define LA28 from its very first night.

Celebrating Women In Front OfThe Entire World

Organizers confirmed that opening day will also feature the most women’s finals ever held in a single day at the Olympics, including the women’s triathlon. “It’s about celebrating women’s sport in full view of the world,” said LA28’s chief of sport delivery, Shana Ferguson, who added that ticket sales—projected to reach 14 million across 51 sports—will open in April 2026. A century after women first stepped onto the Olympic track, the 2028 Games will begin with them running the show—literally. And when those sprinters take their marks under the California sky, the message will be clear: the era of women’s track and field owning the spotlight has truly arrived.