Ghana has begun preparations for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games two years ahead of schedule, with the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) Ghana President, Samson Deen, leading a strategic assessment of facilities and operational plans in the United States.
The early engagement signals an attempt to break with Ghana’s familiar cycle of rushed preparations and build an athlete-first programme capable of delivering medals on the world’s biggest sporting stage.
Mr Deen joined African and international sports leaders in a series of meetings with LA28 organisers over the past week.
Discussions covered athlete accommodation, training facilities, operational planning and the technical and logistical requirements of national delegations.
A central focus was the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), which will serve as the Olympic and Paralympic Village. Athletes and support personnel will live, dine and train on the campus throughout the Games.
UCLA is no stranger to the Olympic movement, having accommodated athletes and coaches when Los Angeles last staged the Games in 1984.
Its return as the athletes’ village gives organisers an established base as they prepare to host an estimated 15,000 competitors across the Olympic and Paralympic programmes.
Mr Deen said the engagements offered national and continental sports representatives an important opportunity not only to understand LA28’s plans but also to shape them by outlining the needs of their athletes.
“It is all about planning and making sure that we operationalise the Games,” he said, underlining the importance of translating broad organisational plans into practical systems that delegations could rely on.
The meetings examined how teams would be received, accommodated, transported and supported, as well as the availability of suitable training environments before and during competition.
For Ghana, that intelligence can prove critical. Successful Olympic and Paralympic campaigns are built long before athletes arrive at the Games Village, requiring sustained investment in qualification, coaching, sports science, international competition and logistical support.
Mr Deen stressed that the latest discussions represented only the beginning of a longer preparation cycle. Further meetings are expected in the coming months as LA28 organisers refine their plans and national bodies develop their own operational strategies.
The NPC Ghana president intends to use the knowledge and international contacts gained from the engagements to strengthen Ghana’s preparations, particularly in Para sport.
He is also expected to work with the relevant sporting authorities to ensure athletes receive the technical, competitive and logistical support required to perform at elite level.
The challenge now is to convert early engagement into sustained action. Ghana’s medal ambitions will depend not merely on inspecting facilities or attending planning meetings, but on building a coherent pathway that identifies potential qualifiers, exposes them to high-level competition and provides dependable funding throughout the four-year cycle.
The Los Angeles Olympic Games will run from July 14 to 30, 2028, followed by the Paralympic Games from August 15 to 27.
