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This women's 100m final will headline the inaugural day of competition at the LA28 Olympics as a key element in organisers' plans to “open with a bang”.

This unexpected choice, resulting in every stage of the 100m taking place on the same day, received support by American track athlete Sha’Carri Richardson, who remarked that it indicated “track and field is having its moment”.

Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith supported the change for the Games, scheduled 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 runners usually race no more than twice per day, the sport’s governing body announced it had engaged extensively with participants to guarantee they supported the arrangement.

“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 carefully structured the program to allow as many athletes as possible to “double up”, not only in events such as the 100m and 200m but additionally the 800m and 1500m and the 1500m and 5,000m. Officials confirmed that there would be a decade’s worth of competition at the LA Coliseum, with a co-ed sprint relay being introduced, 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.”

Nonetheless, the agenda makes it unlikely that American athlete Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone can participate in the 400m and the 400 hurdles, given the hurdles semifinals and the 400-meter championship occur simultaneously.

Swimming has customarily kicked off the Olympics. Yet because it is taking place in SoFi Stadium, where the inaugural event, it begins in the following week.

Organisers additionally announced that the first day will feature the highest number of female championship events ever in a 24-hour period in Games’ history, with the women’s triathlon gold medal one of the prizes available. They have also scheduled a mega Saturday on the penultimate day, with 26 gold medals across 23 sports at stake.

Shana Ferguson, the head of sport and games delivery for LA28, explained the goal is to sell about 14,000,000 tickets across 51 disciplines at 49 locations, with public availability starting in spring 2026. Ferguson also confirmed that organisers would not employ the disputed dynamic pricing model that sparked criticism among Oasis fans this past summer and experimented with by Fifa at the international club tournament in the US.