U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday creating a White House Olympics task force to handle security and other issues related to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, an administration official told Reuters.

The task force, made up of members from Trump’s cabinet and government agencies, will coordinate federal, state and local government work on transportation, the official said.

It also will “streamline visa processing and credentialing for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media,” the official said in an email.

The United States will host the Olympics in Los Angeles in three years. Trump, a Republican who lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden, has expressed pleasure that his second term will coincide with the Olympics and the World Cup.

“During his first term, President Trump was instrumental in securing America’s bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The president considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle in his second term,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Monday.

Last month organizers of the Los Angeles games released the first look at the Olympic competition schedule . The city had also hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984.

“The creation of this task force marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028,” Casey Wasserman, the chair and president of LA28, said in a statement.

–Reuters

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By DAVID LEE

Home is many places for swimmer Adaku Nwandu, who was born in China, lives in Singapore and wears the Nigeria flag on her swimsuit.

And it is at her current home in Singapore that the 17-year-old is making her debut at the World Aquatics Championships (WCH).

In the second heat of the 100m freestyle at the WCH Arena, the teenager, who has a Nigerian father and Chinese mother, led at the turn before finishing third in 1min 0.89sec – she eventually placed 59th out of 82 athletes overall.

After her race, Adaku shared with The Straits Times that she was born and raised in Shanghai, and started swimming when she was eight. Interestingly, it was ice cream that kept her in the sport.

Adaku, who still has the 50m freestyle heats on Aug 2, said: “At a school competition, I didn’t do so well and I asked my dad if we could make a deal. He said if I do better, he would buy me ice cream once every week, and that’s a promise we have kept with each other. And that’s what brought me here.”

In 2023, the family moved to Singapore due to her mother’s work posting. With her fluent Mandarin and love for Asian and spicy food, it did not take long for her to pick up Singlish and enjoy local delights like chicken rice and chilli crab.

She said: “We came here mainly because of my mother’s work, and also because the swimming scene back where I lived in China was a little bit toxic, so she also thought Singapore would be a new experience and better for my swimming.”

By then, she had already committed to representing Nigeria after its aquatics association contacted her after the National Sports Festival in Asaba, where the then 16-year-old was part of the national record-breaking women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.

But Singapore is where she has been honing her swimming skills, as she has set her 50m and 100m freestyle long- and short-course Nigeria national records at meets here.

Noting her improvements, Singapore swimming coach and performance director Gary Tan said: “Adaku has been participating in our system for a while, and we hope it helps her develop as a swimmer and achieve what she wants while training in Singapore with her school (German European School Singapore).”

For someone who is inspired by Olympic champions David Popovici, Caeleb Dressel and Adam Peaty for “their dedication and the way they are able to take breaks for themselves to improve and get back to the water”, qualifying for Paris 2024 on ranking points was a dream come true.

Her Olympic debut was also unforgettable as her swimsuit ripped 20 minutes before her 50m freestyle heat, but she managed to finish second in her heat and 33rd out of 78th overall in 26.62 seconds, just 0.03 of a second off her personal best.

Back in Singapore, Adaku, who is in the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme at her school, realised that she needed more of such resilience to reach her goals.

The swimmer, who also plays for the school’s volleyball team, said: “I had a lot of improvement the first year I came to Singapore. But this past year has been especially hard for me with family problems and also school. The workload in my first year of IB made it hard to balance training and school.

“Especially in the next year, I want to focus more on swimming and try to get some new personal bests because this year I just plateaued. I’m looking forward to training harder and preparing for my next competition and hopefully qualify for the next Olympics.”

-Strait Times, Singapore

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Qatar has officially launched a bid to host the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games, authorities announced on Tuesday, aiming to build on the legacy of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and further cement its status as a global hub for major sporting events.

If successful, Qatar would make history as the first country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to host the Olympic Games—a move that underscores the Gulf nation’s ongoing strategy to diversify its economy and elevate its international profile through sports.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who described the Olympic bid as the next chapter in Qatar’s growing sporting journey.

“The official bid submitted by the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) to host the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games represents a new milestone in Qatar’s journey,” he said in a statement published by the Qatar News Agency.

“The bid builds on Qatar’s proven track record of successfully hosting major international sporting events, most notably the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.”

Qatar’s staging of the 2022 World Cup marked a turning point for global sport in the Arab world, as it became the first Middle Eastern nation to host football’s biggest tournament. Despite pre-tournament criticism and controversy surrounding labour practices, the event was widely praised for its organisation, infrastructure, and atmosphere.

Authorities in Doha now hope to replicate that success with the Olympic Games. President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani, emphasised the country’s readiness and vision.

“Sport is a central pillar of our national development strategy,” he said. “We currently have 95 percent of the required sports infrastructure in place to host the Games, and we have a comprehensive national plan to ensure 100 percent readiness.”

However, Qatar’s sporting ambitions have not been without scrutiny. Human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, alleged that thousands of migrant workers died in the lead-up to the 2022 World Cup due to unsafe working conditions. Qatari officials have repeatedly rejected those claims, stating that only 37 deaths were recorded on World Cup projects, and just three were work-related.

Despite the controversies, Qatar has maintained momentum in securing global events, including the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, the upcoming 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup, and the 2030 Asian Games. The bid for the Olympics is seen as the country’s boldest yet.

Under new IOC rules, countries are no longer required to make their bids public, allowing for a more flexible and private selection process.

The host for 2036 will be chosen under the leadership of newly elected IOC President Kirsty Coventry, who made history last month as the first woman to head the organisation.

With the next three Olympic Games already scheduled for Paris (2024), Los Angeles (2028), and Brisbane (2032), there is strong speculation that the 2036 edition could return to Asia or head to Africa for the first time—giving Qatar’s bid a potentially strategic advantage.

As Doha sets its sights on Olympic glory, it does so from a position of experience, with the memory of the 2022 World Cup still fresh and its stadiums, transit systems, and event management capacity already tested on the world’s biggest stage.

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