Montreal is one of four cities that will host final Olympic qualifiers ahead of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, the International Olympic Committee unveiled Thursday.
The IOC made the announcement Thursday in Lausanne, Switzerland, though the Canadian Olympic Committee was notified earlier this week.
“It’s the return of the Olympic rings to Montreal, Quebec and Canada,” COC chief sport officer Eric Myles said.
Orlando, Tokyo and Shanghai are the other cities set to host the Olympic Q-Series, which will feature 3x3 basketball, beach volleyball, BMX freestyle, climbing, skateboarding and flag football, which will make its Olympic debut in Los Angeles.
“Extremely excited to have this kind of event coming to Montreal, to my country,” added COC president Tricia Smith. “I know Montreal does a fantastic job with events; we’re always proud when Montreal hosts events.”
The event is expected to draw close to 2,000 participants, including around 500 athletes, and some 70,000 spectators, the COC said.
“It’s a great event,” Myles said. “It fits perfectly with our development plan. These are very modern, very ‘young’ sports. There’s the competition aspect, but also the entire urban festival component, with plenty of interaction between spectators and athletes. It’s such a great fit for Montreal.”
Montreal will host the third stop on the circuit from June 1-4, 2028, just weeks before the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Games.
The events will take place at Montreal’s Olympic Park, built for the 1976 Summer Games.
The city will host events in five of the six sports, with all competitions taking place at a single hub. Olympic Park is undergoing major renovations, including the replacement of the Olympic Stadium’s roof and technical ring, with completion scheduled for 2028.
The competition program will be confirmed at a later date.
“I had the chance to tour what will become the competition site around Olympic Stadium, and people are going to love it,” Myles said. “We’re pretty thrilled.”
Organizers estimate the event will cost $28 million, with $22 million projected to come from the three levels of government.
Private partners, including some already associated with the Canadian Olympic Committee, will fund the remainder.
“Support for the project (from all three levels of government) came quickly,” Myles said. “The groundwork was also done properly. It shows the quality of what’s coming.
“If you combine that with the recent government funding announcements, you can feel the importance being placed on sport, the desire to establish ourselves as a country, province and city.”
Montreal showed interest in the project as soon as the IOC announced plans to launch the new events.
Smith said Tourisme Montréal approached the COC with questions about the competition at the start of 2024, leading to discussions with the IOC.
"A staff member of the COC attended the Olympic Qualifier Series 2024 as an observer to better understand the event, after which conversations with Tourisme Montréal, Parc Olympique, and the City of Montreal led to the development of an initial business plan, and ultimately the submission of our bid," she added.
For Smith, a four-time Olympian and silver medallist in rowing at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the event series aligns perfectly with Montreal’s desire to be at the forefront of international sport.
“New and innovative IOC initiatives like the Olympic Qualifier Series align well with Montreal’s Olympic legacy and its tradition of hosting major sporting events and festivals, a part of the city’s DNA,” she said.
Myles added that the event’s legacy will include new sports infrastructure.
“The climbing wall, the skate park and so on,” he said. “We’ll be left with international-level facilities. When you look at the whole picture, it became a very interesting project.”
The COC has made no secret of its desire to bring major games, even the Olympics themselves, back to Canada. Could this type of bid serve as a stepping-stone toward something bigger?
“From our side, these are files we continue to monitor closely. We’re in discussions with several cities in Canada, whether it’s for Summer or Winter Games,” Myles said.
“This is a step, a different kind of step, but it wouldn’t be accurate to draw a direct link between hosting these events and a future Montreal Olympic bid. Bringing the Olympics here is an entirely separate matter.”
