On an ordinary morning, the end of Venice Boulevard is a turnaround, a strip of sand and a bike path. On July 15, 2028, the same spot becomes the transition area and finish line for the Olympic triathlon. LA28 says the first medals of the 2028 Games will be awarded there, in the Women's Individual race.
LA28 released its first course details on September 23, 2026, and the plan has an unusual feature. The Olympic venue in Venice is the neighborhood itself: the bike path, the canal bridges and the Venice Sign. The organizers also say these will be the first Games since 1948 to build no new permanent infrastructure. So when the grandstands come down, any lasting change on the waterfront will be whatever local groups manage to finish first. Several of them are already trying.
A Course Drawn on Routes You Already Use
The triathlon courses are loops, so athletes keep coming back past the same places all race long. LA28 describes one shared transition area as the hub. Athletes return there after every bike and run lap, and it is where crowds will gather at the key points of each race. Here is how the individual race uses Venice:
- Swim, 1,500 meters. The start is from the beach, not a pontoon, which LA28 says has happened only once before in Olympic history. Athletes swim a 1,000-meter lap, run 25 meters on the sand, then dive back in for a final 500 meters.
- Bike, 40 kilometers. Eight 5-kilometer laps run along the Venice bike path and out onto local streets, with two technical turnarounds. Riders pass in front of the Venice Sign on their way back to transition.
- Run, 10 kilometers. Four 2.5-kilometer laps follow the same path-and-street route, then cross the bridges of the Venice Canals before the finish line above the water.
The Mixed Relay on July 20, 2028 is a tighter version: a 350-meter swim, two 3.3-kilometer bike laps on the beach path and two 800-meter run laps per athlete. In August, Paralympic athletes swim from a barge beyond the breakwater. They then ride three 6.6-kilometer laps that also pass the Venice Sign.
At the Games level, LA28's Chief of Sport and Games Delivery Officer, Shana Ferguson, said in the LA28 announcement that the routes "showcase the energy, character and beauty of this vibrant beachfront neighborhood." For anyone who rides that path to the pier on weekends, the more practical point is simpler. This is a venue you already know by heart.
The Boardwalk Is a Starting Line, Too
The triathlon is the best-known part of Venice's Olympic summer, but it is only part of it. LA28's competition schedule, Version 3.0 dated March 16, 2026, lists the "Venice Beach Boardwalk" as the start for both Olympic road races and both marathons. Those races finish elsewhere in Los Angeles. Together, the dates spread Venice's Olympic activity over most of the summer.
| Date | Event | Where in Venice |
|---|---|---|
| July 16–18, 2027 | World Triathlon T50 test event | Triathlon courses |
| July 15, 2028 | Women's Individual Triathlon | Transition and finish at Venice Boulevard and the sand |
| July 16, 2028 | Men's Individual Triathlon | Same |
| July 20, 2028 | Triathlon Mixed Relay | Same |
| July 22, 2028 | Women's Road Race | Venice Beach Boardwalk start |
| July 23, 2028 | Men's Road Race | Venice Beach Boardwalk start |
| July 29, 2028 | Women's Marathon | Venice Beach Boardwalk start |
| July 30, 2028 | Men's Marathon | Venice Beach Boardwalk start |
| August 18–19, 2028 | Para Triathlon | Triathlon courses |
LA28 says the schedule is subject to change. Still, the pattern is clear. The first medal event is in Venice, and the boardwalk serves as a start line on four separate days over the following fifteen days.
July 2027 Is the Dress Rehearsal
Before any of that, the courses get a full trial run. LA28 says World Triathlon's T50 Triathlon World Tour event will be held in Venice from July 16 to 18, 2027, to test how the courses perform and how operations hold up. World Triathlon's own 2027 calendar lists the same dates as the "Los Angeles Triathlon," with the location noted as Venice Beach.
According to Yo! Venice's report on the September Oceanfront Walk Committee meeting, LA28 described the 2027 race as fully looped. It is sponsored by World Triathlon and the Professional Triathletes Organization, working with Council District 11 and LA Recreation and Parks. In practice, that makes summer 2027 Venice's real deadline. Anything meant to be in place for the Olympic crowds has to work for a world-tour race a year earlier.
LA28 Builds Nothing Permanent, So Venice Is Doing Its Own Building
This is where the 1948 detail matters. LA28 is not leaving behind new structures, so any lasting change on the waterfront depends on local initiative. Four efforts are moving with the Games in mind.
A wider Marvin Braude Bike Trail. The path the triathletes will ride is the subject of Council File 26-1136, "Marvin Braude Bike Trail / 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games / Trail Widen and Maintenance." Councilwoman Traci Park moved it and Councilmember Heather Hutt seconded it. The motion asks the Department of Transportation and other agencies to report on the costs, funding and resources needed to widen the trail and add a separate pedestrian path before 2028. The City Council adopted the committee report on September 29, 2026, directing that report-back within 30 days. That is a request for a cost study, not approval to build. At the September committee meeting, Park's office said it hoped the work would be finished before the Games.
Arches at the mouth of the Venice Pier. Tima Bell is a lifelong Venetian, an architect with Bell Design Group and the owner of Washington Square Pizza. He has proposed a monument of arches that would make the pier entrance what he calls the "beginning of Venice." Yo! Venice reported that the two versions on the table would turn Washington Square into a gathering place and remove the current parking booth. One version adds permeable paving and the other adds low-level lighting across the pier, both with trees and a planted canopy. Bell is covering much of the cost himself, and the requests for proposals are designed to bring in local artists. The Oceanfront Walk Committee voted 6-0 to send the plan to the full Venice Neighborhood Council, which still has to approve it. The goal is to finish construction before the 2028 Games.
Light in the pier lot. Committee chair Fran Solomon reported that ten 18-foot solar light poles, each with two downward-facing fixtures, will be installed in the Venice Pier parking lot. The downward angle is meant to keep light off the beach and neighboring properties. Work on the beach pagodas is still pending, with an estimated cost commitment of $100,000.
The Venice Art Walls stay open. Slauson Corridor, the nonprofit that runs the beach's legal painting space, has signed a new three-year agreement with the City and Recreation and Parks. Longtime residents may know the program under its old name, the STP Foundation. Chairman Bruno Hernandez has led the Walls for more than 14 years. A three-year term covers the Olympic summer, so one of the boardwalk's most photographed landmarks will be in place when the world's cameras arrive.
Where the Next Decisions Get Made
Most of this is being shaped in small rooms on the boardwalk. The Oceanfront Walk Committee meets at the Waterfront Cafe, and its next meeting is Monday, November 2. Park's bike-path proposal was slated for the full Venice Neighborhood Council's October 20 agenda, and the next steps for both the trail and the arches go through that body.
LA28 is also coming to the neighborhood directly. Ways to take part:
- Community meetings. LA28 has scheduled in-person sessions in November, including one on November 12. RSVPs go through la28.org.
- Volunteering. Applicants must be 18 or older and can list the events they would like to work.
- Local businesses. LA28 asked for business involvement at the October committee meeting. Event security will combine private staff, LAPD and the LA Sheriff's Department, working with federal agencies including the Secret Service.
- Venice Neighborhood Council. Agendas and committee schedules are posted at venicenc.org.
For homeowners near the canals, the pier and the Venice Boulevard turnaround, the Olympic map is already set. What remains open is whether the trail gets wider, whether the arches get built and how the pier entrance looks when the 2027 test race arrives. If you'd like to talk through what the Games timeline means for a home near the course, Laura Brau is glad to have a private conversation. Request Your Private Home Valuation.
