A penny or piastres for Egyptian players’ thoughts. Squash will be the smallest outright sport at Los Angeles 2028 after the International Olympic Committee confirmed just 16-strong singles draws for men and women in the official programme for LA ahead of its first Games.
The U-turn on athlete quota numbers represents a hammer blow for the sport after squash chiefs had originally revealed, or believed, 32-player draws to be in order across the two genders following the green light to become part of the IOC programme.
The emphasis on team sports has seemingly scuppered squash’s dream of 64 men and women players competing in LA. For the first time in Olympic history, all team sports will have at least the same number of women’s teams as men’s teams. Water polo has added two women’s teams – 12 women’s and 12 men’s teams – but there will be little equality cheer from squash players.
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It had been expected that two players from top-ranked nations would compete, with continental qualifiers making up the quota.Â
With 16 men and 16 women now officially competing individually, it will mean a brutal scrap for rankings places over the next three years, as the World Squash Federation and Professional Squash Association rethink how qualification will work.
Currently, half of the players in the men’s and women’s top eight are Egyptian.
In Olympic doubles badminton, which are 16-pair draws, two pairs from the same nation can qualify if they are in the top eight, with the competition made up of the best pair from the continental confederations (Asia, Europe, Americas, Oceania and Africa), provided they are within the world’s top 50. A round robin is also played.
The IOC on Wednesday approved a raft of additional sports and quota numbers, as well as 28 more medal events for LA than Paris 2024.
With gender equality a key consideration, the IOC approved a quota of 5,333 places for women and 5,167 for men.
The five sports proposed by the LA28 Organising Committee will contribute an additional 698 athlete quota places.
With squash as the only individual sport of the five, cricket, flag football, baseball and lacrosse make up the majority of quota places as team sports come to the fore in 2028. Baseball has 234 players across its six-team men and women tournaments.
Last April US Squash received confirmation that the Olympic competition would be a 32-player singles draw per gender.
In January, World Squash CEO Zena Wooldridge said that the squash competition “should be fairly straightforward to manage with a 32-player draw in both the men’s and women’s events.
“The key challenge for us is to work with LA28, Los Angeles, and the IOC to capitalise on bringing a unique dimension to the presentation of this new Olympic sport.”Â
With squash now yielding just 32 players across genders, the sport will be the smallest of the competing, outright sports in 2028 alongside trampoline. BMX Freestyle has 12 competitors each, but falls under cycling, while gymnastics’ trampolining also has 16 competitors.
Surfing has the second-smallest quota with 48, while Rowing Coastal Beach Sprints has 32 competitors in each men’s and women’s events. In all, 24 out of 31 sports from Paris 2024 had requested changes and additions to the programme, which hasn’t helped squash’s cause as the IOC bid to cap total numbers.
Squash Mad revealed last year that top players had been contacting federations on potential nationality changes to compete at the pinnacle.
The squash venue for LA 2028 has yet to be revealed, while there will now be discussions on qualifying tournaments and how the sport will set out requirements for the rejigged quota.
Squash Mad has contacted the WSF for comment.
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