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July 4, 2022 — Pool “A” dominance and the 2028 Olympics
The United States, for the fourth World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship in a row, has gone through pool play undefeated.
And the American side, demonstrating stick skills and deception which is the envy of the other 28 teams in the tournament, has had only a pair of games which were reasonably close: a 16-11 tournament opener over Canada, and today’s 15-9 win over England.
Having such a dominant side, as I said five years ago, may not bode well for the sport’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympics. I’ve never thought the IOC was terribly friendly towards the inclusion of baseball and softball into the Olympic program because it would simply represent one more gold medal for the United States.
Too, when baseball and softball were added to the Olympics in the 80s and 90s, the IOC ignored its own rules when it came to geographic diversity. Mind you, when it comes to lacrosse, there are more teams in more places than ever before, and I think more teams in Africa and in South America are an absolute must for the game to be a permanent part of the Olympics.
Now, baseball and softball have had a checkered past in the Olympic program. They were on the docket from 1992 to 2008, then suffered a decade and a half of drought before coming back in for Tokyo 2021. However, the IOC voted to re-revoke baseball and softball for 2024, but are expected to re-instate the games for 2028 in Los Angeles.
Given this, I do wonder if the IOC is looking at this tournament and asking itself whether the Olympic tournament in 2028 will be competitive. There will obviously be another data point available at the World Games, but given the competitive excellence of the U.S. team, it makes you wonder if lacrosse is going to be voted in at the next time of asking.
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