Correction: An earlier version of this story said Galway Downs’ selection was official as of the Los Angeles City Council vote. In fact, the venue still needs to be formally ratified by the International Olympic Committee.

Galway Downs is cleared to be the site of equestrian competition for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games, after a Los Angeles City Council committee on Wednesday voted to approve a slate of event venue changes.

Holding equestrian competition at the Temecula, California, equestrian center was formally proposed in June 2024, in response to direction from the International Olympic Committee that future Olympic Games use existing venues and—for equestrian—hold all sports in one place, versus staging cross-country at a remote site, as happened in Tokyo in 2021. In its original 2017 plans for the Games, the LA28 Planning Committee assigned equestrian and para-equestrian to the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area in Encino, California, which does not currently have equestrian facilities. 

In contrast, the 240-acre Galway Downs venue, located roughly 85 miles from Los Angeles, already has a cross-country course built through the advanced level and hosts dressage, hunter/jumper and eventing competitions in addition to other horse-related activities.