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This women's 100m title race will take center stage on the opening day of events at the LA28 Olympic Games as a key element in planners' strategies to “start with excitement”.

This unexpected move, that means each heat of the 100m occurring on the identical date, received support by US sprint star Sha’Carri Richardson, who remarked that it demonstrated “athletics is stepping into the spotlight”.

Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith endorsed the change for the Games, set from 15-30 July. “This is a thrilling chance – honoring the lasting impact, resilience, and worldwide influence of women’s sprinting, a full century after women first entered Olympic athletics,” she continued.

While sprinters usually race no more than twice per day, the sport’s governing body stated it had consulted widely with athletes to guarantee they were on board the decision.

“To be the pre-eminent event on the first night of competition in the historic LA Memorial Coliseum – when we presented it to the athletes that way, there was excitement,” said Janet Evans, the chief athlete officer for the Games. “A majority of athletes said to me: ‘Just let me know. Let me know early, and I’ll start training to run three 100s in one day.’”

The international federation detailed it had deliberately arranged the schedule to permit as many athletes as possible to “compete in multiple events”, not only in events including the sprints but also the 800m and 1500m and the longer track events. It said that there would be a decade’s worth of events at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, with a co-ed sprint relay premiering, plus 72 hours of road events at the conclusion of the Olympics.

“We have landed on an athletics programme that will start with a bang as our women’s sprinters take centre stage on day one,” said the World Athletics president, Seb Coe. “It is a schedule that is both innovative but also honours tradition, with the men’s marathon on the final day.”

However, the line-up suggests it’s doubtful that American athlete Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will be able to compete in the 400m and the 400 hurdles, since the hurdles semifinals and the 400-meter championship occur simultaneously.

Swimming has historically initiated the Summer Games. Yet because it is taking place in SoFi Stadium, which hosts the opening ceremony, it commences in the following week.

Planners also confirmed that day one will showcase the most women’s finals ever in a 24-hour period in Games’ history, with the female triathlon title one of the prizes available. They have also scheduled a Super Saturday on the penultimate day, with 26 first-place awards across 23 disciplines available.

An LA28 official, the head of sport and games delivery for LA28, explained the goal is to sell about 14 million tickets across 51 Olympic sports at 49 sites, with public availability starting in spring 2026. Ferguson also confirmed that planners are avoiding the contentious dynamic pricing model that caused anger among Oasis fans in the summer and tested by the football governing body at the Club World Cup in the United States.