The 2028 Summer Olympics is expected to include 353 medal events in 36 sports, an increase of 24 events and four sports over the 2024 Summer Olympics;[72][73] this includes 31 mandatory "core" sports, and five optional sports that were proposed by the organizing committee to help improve local interest. The core program consists of the 28 core sports contested since 2016, along with skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing—three sports that have been officially promoted to the core program after being contested as optional sports in 2020 and 2024.[74][75][76][77] The five optional sports will include the Olympic debuts of flag football (a non-contact variant of gridiron football) and squash, the return of baseball/softball for the first time since 2020, the return of cricket for the first time since 1900, and lacrosse for the first time since 1908.[78][79]