The LA28 Olympic cauldron is lit during a ceremonial lighting at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, ahead of the launch of ticket registration for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, January 13, 2026. FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP
Nadia Comaneci, Apolo Ohno, Bart Conner and Cullen Jones were among the more than 300 Olympic and Paralympic athletes who gathered Tuesday, January 13, under the peristyle at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the Summer Games will open in 2028.
In an effort to promote Wednesday's registration launch for tickets to the Los Angeles Games, the athletes representing 28 different Olympics dating to 1960 joined Janet Evans, chief athlete officer for the LA28 organizing committee, in a short countdown to the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron against a clear blue winter sky.
"LA is committed to delivering an athlete-centered games and that can only happen if athletes are actually at the center of our planning," said Evans, an Olympic champion swimmer.
The get-together felt like a homecoming to Ohno, the most decorated US Winter Olympian ever with eight short track speedskating medals.
