Lacrosse

Lacrosse was twice on the Olympic Programme as a full medal sport, in St. Louis 1904 and London 1908. Lacrosse has also been contested as a demonstration sport at the Olympics in Amsterdam 1928, Los Angeles 1932, and London 1948. In this short Olympic history, Canada leads the medal table, with three medals and two golds.

Lacrosse does have an international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which was a member of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF): World Lacrosse, which was the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) until May 2019, when it was rebranded to its current name. The FIL was formed in August 2008, by merging the International Lacrosse Federation (ILF), founded in 1974, with the International Federation of Women’s Lacrosse Associations (IFWLA), established in 1972. As of January 2026, World Lacrosse has 95 national members.

In August 2022, the Los Angeles 2028 Organizing Committee shortlisted nine proposed sports for consideration as optional events for those Olympics, with one of those sports being lacrosse. After many years of efforts, at the 141st Session in Mumbai, India, the IOC approved sixes lacrosse, a six-person per team variant, as an optional sport for the 2028 Olympics, along with four other sports.

All the appearances of lacrosse on the Olympic programme during the 20th century were contested in the field lacrosse format, and this discipline was also contested at the 2017 edition of the World Games, with a women’s tournament. The 2022 edition of the competition included events for men and women in sixes lacrosse, and the latest edition of the World Games, in 2025, featured a women’s sixes lacrosse tournament as well.