When the Olympics come to Los Angeles in 2028, there will be events in the San Fernando Valley for the very first time.
The Valley didn’t host any competitions when Los Angeles was the host city in 1932 and 1984, but that will change four years from now.
BMX, Skateboarding, and Archery will take place at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area.
Images: See venues planned for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
The news is exciting for many people who live in work in the Valley, but also for fans of the sports like BMX, which started in Southern California.
“BMX history locally is huge. A lot of the first early pro tracks were here. A lot of the BMX manufacturers were here,” Tommy Gelinas, founder of the Valley Relics Museum, said. A portion of the museum is dedicated to the sport.
“I am so stoked,” Gelinas said. “The fact that we were part of the early beginnings of BMX now an Olympic sport, and now it's coming back to the Valley, which is like full circle.”
Nancy Hoffman Vanyek, President of the San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce, knows that the Olympics will be great for people and business.
“We’re the perfect host. If the city of Los Angeles has 4 million people and 2 million people live right here, we are the perfect host and hostesses for the people coming to our community,” Hoffman Vanyek said. “We’re five cities really, but most of it is the city of LA; We have Calabasas, San Fernando, Glendale, Burbank and Hidden Hills. Small little cities, all those cities are also going to be affected whether it’s people going to restaurants, people staying in hotels. It's all going to trickle out to all these areas.”
Though we are still four years away, people in the Valley seem almost ready to host the games now.
“How exciting is that to watch this all take place and evolve over the next four years leading up to the next Olympics?” Gelinas said. “Especially that the BMX sport started here. And now having a light shine on it globally is so huge for us.”
