Have you heard the latest about the LA Olympics? They’re making some serious waves for 2028! The IOC (International Olympic Committee) just approved a record 351 medal events on Wednesday, with many firsts. For the first time ever, we’ll see sprint swimming races – those lightning-fast 50m backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events for both men and women! And that’s not all – mixed-gender events are coming to artistic gymnastics and golf, plus there’s a new mixed 4x100m relay on the track. It’s all part of the IOC’s push to freshen up the Games and bring in new fans. LA28 will feature 22 more medal events than Paris 2024, but they’re keeping the athlete count steady at 10,500 across 31 sports. Not everyone’s thrilled, though…

Italian swimming star Thomas Ceccon didn’t mince words—or emojis—when reacting to the new event additions for the 2028 Olympics. The Italian Olympic champion shared a post on his Instagram story today. The post, originally from World Aquatics, celebrated the 50m event freestyle swimming announcement for the Olympics. The image was sleek—Olympic rings glowing above a bold teal-blue “50,” with the words “FREE — FLY — BREAST — BACK” listed underneath, a nod to the four strokes in swimming. In the background? An empty Olympic pool, lane markers stretching out, and starting blocks marked 4 and 5, standing.

But Ceccon’s reaction? Pure thumbs-down. The Paris Olympics 100m Backstroke gold medalist didn’t write a caption but filled the story with thumbs-down emojis, plenty of them, about 44, making it clear he wasn’t thrilled about the announcement. But why? Honestly, no one knows for sure. The four-time Olympic medalist hasn’t explained his reaction publicly, leaving fans and insiders to speculate.

That said, there are a few likely reasons—and fans in the swimming world have been talking. One big concern? Roster limits. Right now, each country can only send 26 male and 26 female swimmers to the Olympics. The United States already hit that cap last year while finalizing its men’s roster for Paris. With the addition of possibly six new seats in the roster due to the addition of 50m (yes, six more events per gender), the pressure’s going to rise. Someone fast might get left behind—not because they didn’t qualify, but because there simply isn’t room.

Then there’s the meet schedule. The Olympics already span nine days of intense swimming. Adding more events could stretch that to ten or jam more races into each day. That’s a tough ask for swimmers doing multiple events. Imagine racing a 50 backstroke in the morning and then turning around to swim a 100 butterfly semi that evening. Some may, in that case, cut semifinals for 200s, like they did at the 2024  World Aquatics Swimming Championships, to save time. But that’s a compromise- less swim time for distance specialists. But everyone is not on the same page as Thomas Ceccon

Paris Olympics silver medalist has a different take

For a while, fans weren’t sure if Adam Peaty would swim at another Olympics. The British powerhouse had left it open-ended—until now.  The moment the IOC confirmed that 50m sprint events would be on the schedule for the Los Angeles 2028 Games, Peaty didn’t wait long to share his next move.

Just hours later, the six-time Olympic medalist posted on Instagram, “50m sprint events have just been added to @la28games which confirms my attempt to be at my fourth Olympic Games. This is the best result for our incredible sport and will allow more people to be part of it and stay in it much longer. Thank you @world_aquatics for this amazing decision. I’ve got a good feeling about these next three years.”

For Peaty, it’s personal. He’s the current world record holder in the 50m breaststroke set in Budapest back in 2017. The event wasn’t part of the Olympic program, and Peaty had previously said he’d only return in 2028 if it made the cut. Now? He’s all in. Interestingly, Peaty is on a modified training plan after saying he’d take a two-year break post-Paris, where he grabbed silver in the 100m Breaststroke.

So, what are your thoughts on the new addition? Let us know in the comments down below!