Rowing holds a special place in the history of the modern Olympics as a founding sport managed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1896. While bad weather postponed the first Olympic rowing race from 1896 to 1900, World Rowing was the first international sports federation to join the modern Olympic movement, helping to legitimise the rebirth of the ancient Greek sporting tournament. However, that tradition appears at first glance to be shaken, with World Rowing announcing their support to shorten the Olympic distance from 2,000 metres to 1,500 metres due to the challenging logistics of the Los Angeles 2028 venue.Los Angeles 2028 was initially planned in Lake Perris State Recreation Area in Riverside County, which could have hosted the standard distance, but it was deemed too far away. It was 80 miles (129km) from the main host city, and the organisers were also fretting the cost of building additional infrastructure, including another athletes’ village. So instead, Long Beach is now the preferred location, sitting at the heart of Los Angeles County, much closer to the action, thereby making it more attractive to sponsors. It will also be more cost-efficient, with the area also hosting handball, triathlon, open-water swimming, BMX and water polo.Long Beach actually hosted rowing in the 1932 LA Olympics at the full 2,000-metre distance, but construction of a bridge since has partly obstructed the first quarter of the course, so only three lanes, rather than the required eight, are available at full length.
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