Oklahoma City Mayor Preparing For 2028 Olympics Following Return From Paris Games

With the conclusion of the 2024 Olympics Games in Paris, the spotlight is now on Los Angeles, and to a smaller extent Oklahoma City, for the next Summer Games.

Although Los Angeles will host much of the 2028 games, the softball and canoe slalom events will be held at Devon Park and Riversport OKC, respectively, in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, who traveled to Paris for The Games, has since returned and spoke with News 9 about the opening phases of preparing for the city's role in the next Summer Games.

"I feel like the Olympics are back," Holt said. "What happened in 2020 and 2021 rendered Tokyo sort of feeling like a fever dream, you know, like people didn't pay nearly the level of attention that we were used to."

Despite the lack of enthusiasm for the prior Olympics, which were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Holt said he feels the worldwide energy regarding the international sporting exhibition has since been renewed.

"What good timing for us? Because, you know, here we are poised to potentially host two sports here in Oklahoma City, in partnership with Los Angeles," Holt said. "It was really important this being the last opportunity before 2028 to go and see it in person. I mean, we still have these approvals we need from the Los Angeles City Council. This is not official yet, but it is the proposal from LA 28 and as such, we've got to prepare."

Holt was not alone on his recent trip to Paris, and brought several city leaders to learn from and improve upon what was done for the 2024 Olympics.

"We had about 10 people from Oklahoma City," Holt said. "We had somebody from the police department, the city manager's office, [convention and visitor's bureau], the chamber, and it was just … There's just nothing like those seeing it in person."

As for the scale, Holt said despite only hosting two events, there is a lot to take in from seeing The Games in action.

"There's nothing like the scale of the Olympics," Holt said. "I think getting to see that in person, and obviously take detailed notes and observations, but also just the look and feel of it, and recognizing that even though we've gotten to host the NBA Finals, we've gotten to host some pretty amazing things in Oklahoma City, that this is next."

However, Holt said the city is already prepared in every way it can be, specifically, regarding event venues.

"The biggest cost we've already incurred, we built the venues, that's why we're having this conversation," Holt said. "Nobody in the Western United States has these venues. We have the only canoe slalom facility west of the Mississippi, and we have the best softball stadium in the world. Having said that, there's still some other stuff that we're going to have to do."

Holt said he is aware of where Oklahoma City would need to put in more work before they host any events, especially when it comes to facility maintenance, security, parking and transportation and even finding room for a large influx of people coming to the city.

"We're gonna have to build stands for canoe slalom, we're gonna have to, obviously, continue to maintain our facilities," Holt said. "That would be true with or without the Olympics."

Holt also said, with any event, comes the cost of paying for it.

"I wanted to kind of outline what we have to pay for," Holt said. "We'll have a balanced and diverse sources for all of this, but we'll get it covered, and it'll be fine, and it'll certainly pay off, both with the event and with the legacy."