{"id":434612,"date":"2026-08-16T15:20:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T15:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/434612\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T15:20:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T15:20:19","slug":"how-la28-aims-to-stage-the-best-paralympic-games-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/434612\/","title":{"rendered":"How LA28 aims to stage ‘the best Paralympic Games ever’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Olympics have soared before in Los Angeles<\/a>. In less than two years, the Paralympics will take flight from L.A. for the first time.<\/p>\n

LA28<\/a> hopes to raise the bar for the Paralympic movement when the Paralympic Games open in SoFi Stadium on Aug. 15, 2028. The city that already changed the Olympic movement by hosting the most commercially successful Games ever in 1984 could leave an equally indelible mark on the Paralympic movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the opening ceremony in two years\u2019 time, we will be about to witness the Paralympic Games that can really put our movement in a higher step,\u201d International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons said, \u201cin a higher position as a sport movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Olympics were blossoming in L.A. in 1984, the Paralympics that year were hosted in New York and Stoke Mandeville, England in a patchwork plan that came to be known as the \u201cLast-Minute Games\u201d because a U.S.-based organizing committee failed to secure funding to host the Paralympic Games at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The LA28 Olympics and Paralympics logos are featured on a sign outside an event in 2024.<\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Forty years later, the Paris Paralympics solidified the movement\u2019s position as one of the largest sporting events in the world. The 2024 Paralympics sold 2.5 million tickets, the most for a Paralympic Games, and had a record 12,941 global broadcast hours<\/a>. The overall live audience for the Paris Paralympics grew by 40% compared to 2021 and 117% from 2016.<\/p>\n

Seeing the Paralympics leaves a lasting impression on fans. A Nielsen Sports study commissioned by the IPC<\/a> found that 73% of people thought the Paris Paralympic Games positively changed their attitudes toward people with disabilities.<\/p>\n

LA28 wants to build on that momentum. <\/p>\n

\u201cI really would love to see the change of perception of what people with disabilities can do, but also most importantly see the athletes perform,\u201d said Ileana Rodriguez, the LA28 vice president of Paralympic strategy and relations and a 2012 Paralympic swimmer. \u201cBecause oftentimes we forget the sport side of the athletes and put the disability in front, and I really hope that this is reversed in our Games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"American <\/p>\n

American Alexandra Truwit competes during the women\u2019s 400-meter freestyle during the Paralympics on Sept. 5, 2024, in Nanterre, France.<\/p>\n

(Adam Pretty \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for Ali Truwit to see the Paralympic standard. The former Yale swimmer had always respected Paralympians for their grit, courage and strength, but after she lost the lower part of her left leg in a shark attack in 2023, Truwit had her own Paralympic awakening.<\/p>\n

She realized that to even make the U.S. team for Paris, she needed to swim faster with one leg than she did with two.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people would come up and say, like, \u201cOh well you could do the Paralympics,\u2019\u201d said Truwit, who had 15 months between having her leg amputated on her 23rd birthday and the opening ceremony of the Paris Paralympics. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Well, you can\u2019t just do the Paralympics actually!\u2019 It\u2019s elite and it\u2019s fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her American record time of 1 minute, 8.98 seconds seconds in the S10 100-meter backstroke at the 2024 U.S. Paralympic swimming trials was faster than the times she was putting up to be recruited for Division I schools. Also the U.S. record holder in the S10 400-meter freestyle (4:31.39), Truwit won silver medals in both races in her first Paralympic Games.<\/p>\n

But as she starts training for 2028, Truwit knows even her national record times might not be enough to get on the podium in L.A.<\/p>\n

In Paris, 175 world and 218 Paralympic records were broken across 22 sports. The quality of the performances are better than ever, Parsons, the Paralympic president, pointed out. Athletes have become more refined with their training techniques.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you raise the expectations for what high performance is, for what an athlete is, then gosh, that\u2019s just going to open up so many more opportunities,\u201d said Brent Hardin, an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Alabama and director of Alabama Adapted Athletics. \u201cThe Paralympics has the ability to do that like no other sporting event in the world for athletes with disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last time the Summer Paralympics were in the United States, in 1996, the event was run by a separate committee from the Olympic organizers. Disorganized and under-publicized, the event was underwhelming, Hardin said. Since 2002, organizing committees have been required to put together joint bids to host both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, using the same venues, facilities and infrastructure.<\/p>\n

LA28 will rely on mostly existing venues for both the Olympics and Paralympics, relieving many of the biggest headaches that have plagued previous organizing committees. But hosting 4,480 Paralympians in one village is an especially unique challenge.<\/p>\n

\"UCLA <\/p>\n

UCLA students walk up and down stairs on a campus that features many hills. The school is scheduled to host the athletes\u2019 village for the 2028 Paralympics.<\/p>\n

(Al Seib\/For The Times)<\/p>\n

LA28 will host the Olympic and Paralympic villages at UCLA. While renowned for its red brick buildings and lush green lawns, UCLA\u2019s campus is also notorious for its steep hills. In 2025, two students who used wheelchairs sued the university and the UC Board of Regents<\/a> for discrimination, citing, in part, elevators that are often out of service, insufficient signage and dangerous conditions in pedestrian paths of travel.<\/p>\n

Rodriquez recognized the campus\u2019 geographical challenges that organizers can\u2019t change. LA28 said in a statement it is focused on building upon UCLA\u2019s existing accessibility foundation while exploring additional modifications and services to support Paralympic athletes and team officials, such as temporary ramps and modified restrooms. Construction is expected to begin this year, trying to minimize impact on normal campus activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne solution is not going to solve it for everyone, but a system of different ones hopefully will for most of them,\u201d said Rodriguez, an architect consulted on previous Games before working with LA28. \u201cWe\u2019re aiming, of course, for 100% of the users, but it doesn\u2019t mean that there might be challenges in some points.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Games will also need to accommodate millions of fans traveling around Southern California. The FIFA World Cup tested the transportation system and it was largely a success, but it presented problems for some fans.<\/p>\n

Kate Scott, founder of Only Everywhere<\/a>, a directory providing accessibility information about more than 400 venues in California, heard from fans who paid hundreds of extra dollars<\/a> for accessible parking and a shuttle to the stadium only to learn later that a free shuttle option was available. Fans struggled to secure wheelchair accessible seats, especially after they were sold at astronomical resale values, and couldn\u2019t get clear answers about what accommodations would be available in the stadium.<\/p>\n

\"Fans <\/p>\n

Fans pack SoFi Stadium during a World Cup match between the United States and Paraguay on June 12.<\/p>\n

(Kelvin Kuo\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

SoFi Stadium aced the physical infrastructure with working elevators, wheelchair escorts and accessible seating with clear sightlines on every level. It was mostly an information gap that left fans wanting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a problem if you say there\u2019s no way to get to the cafe on the second floor. It is a problem if they find that out at the bottom of the stairs,\u201d Scott said. \u201cThey can plan ahead if you just give them the information. It\u2019s not about perfection. It\u2019s about telling people what to expect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the 400 California venues Scott has added to Only Everywhere\u2019s directory, more than half don\u2019t publish anything online about accessibility. Only 7% cover accommodations for mobility limitation, hearing disability, vision impairment and sensory disabilities.<\/p>\n

Disability advocates hope the Paralympics can lead to improved access to social services and structures for people with disabilities during and after the Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot just a one-in-every-four-years kind of event,\u201d said Juliann Anesi, an associate professor of gender studies at UCLA and an affiliate faculty member with the disabilities studies department.<\/p>\n

After the 1984 Olympics helped fund youth sports in L.A. for decades with a $230-million surplus, the 2028 Games have already jump-started adaptive sports opportunities as part of the PlayLA program.<\/p>\n

\"Hunter <\/p>\n

Hunter Woodhall from the U.S. wins the men\u2019s 400-meter T62 final at the 2024 Paralympics on Sept. 6, 2024, in Paris.<\/p>\n

(Thibault Camus \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

The program is run by L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks and will have 12 adaptive sports (adaptive archery, athletics, kayaking, skateboarding, lacrosse, pickleball, para swimming, blind soccer, goalball, para surfing, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis) for the 2026-27 season. The program is on track to reach 5,000 total adaptive sports program enrollments in 2027, LA28 said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLA28 is an opportunity not only to think about people with disabilities as part of [society], but instead to really reshape the conversation around disability, especially in sport,\u201d Truwit said. \u201c… We don\u2019t look at Paralympians as an inspiration or as something where they\u2019re overcoming a limitation, but rather as just part of human diversity and potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the halfway mark of the Olympic quadrennial, Truwit is already dreaming about L.A. The Connecticut native can picture the opening ceremony in SoFi Stadium, where she will be flanked by her fellow American Paralympians. That group could even include several athletes who received grants from her nonprofit Stronger Than You Think, which helps provide prosthetics to girls and women experiencing limb loss. Being at the Paralympics together would be a dream, Truwit said.<\/p>\n

Parsons will open what will be the final Paralympic Games of his IPC presidency. He envisions going out on a high note. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe best Paralympic Games,\u201d Parsons said of his 2028 expectations, \u201cever.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Olympics have soared before in Los Angeles. In less than two years, the Paralympics will take flight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[172576,6948,5615,11154,172575,2303,48,52,51,27729,172578,47,50,49,172577,172580,37734,172579,592,5712,72],"class_list":["post-434612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ali-truwit","tag-athlete","tag-disability","tag-fan","tag-good-paralympic-games","tag-l-a","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-la28","tag-last-minute-games","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-low-part","tag-paralympic-movement","tag-paralympics","tag-paris-paralympics","tag-people","tag-sofi-stadium","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}