By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES, May 27 (Reuters) - Los Angeles 2028 organisers unveiled the Paralympic competition schedule on Wednesday, promising the largest edition of the Games and a record programme across 14 days of competition.
The LA28 Paralympics, the first to be staged in Los Angeles, will feature 560 medal events across 23 sports, with more than 1,100 hours of competition at nearly 20 venues in seven zones around the region, organisers said.
The opening ceremony is scheduled for August 15, 2028,
with the closing ceremony on August 27.
"The Paralympic Games are a must-see elite sporting event," LA28 Chief Athlete Officer Janet Evans said in a statement. "With more sports and days of competition than ever before, LA28 is setting the stage for a legendary Paralympic Games."
In a first for the Paralympics, competition will begin before the opening ceremony, with wheelchair rugby starting on August 13 and boccia a day later. Organisers said no athletes would be eliminated before the ceremony.
Para climbing will make its Paralympic debut in Los Angeles after being added to the programme in 2024, the first time an organising committee has added a sport to the Paralympic programme.
Three other new events will also be added in 2028. Para table tennis and para triathlon will each gain a women's event, while para swimming will add a relay for athletes with an intellectual impairment.
GENDER BALANCE
LA28 said the Games would feature the largest athlete field in Paralympic history and the most gender-balanced quota, with women receiving 45% of athlete places, up from 42% at Paris 2024.
Six sports - para archery, boccia, para judo, para powerlifting, para table tennis and para triathlon - are expected to reach gender parity for the first time.
The final weekend is expected to be one of the busiest in Paralympic history. Organisers said August 26, billed as "Super Saturday," would include 15 finals sessions and more than 50 gold medals across 12 sports.
Seven finals sessions and 20 medals will be contested on August 27 before the closing ceremony, the most medals awarded on the final day of a Paralympics since Atlanta 1996.
Tickets are expected to go on sale in 2027, with additional venue and course details to be announced later this year.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
