Janet Evans Chief Athlete Officer

Before there was Ledecky there was Evans. Janet Evans.

The Greatest Female Swimmer In A Generation

In the late 1980s Evans was the first woman to hold three world records simultaneously in the 400, 800, and 1500-meter freestyle and was the first American woman to win four individual Olympic gold medals in swimming. She was ahead of her time. Her records would not be broken until 2006, 2008 and 2007 respectively.

Evans would finish her Olympic career, which began in Seoul in 1988, in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics as one of the most decorated American swimmers of all time. Nicknamed “Miss Perpetual Motion,” she won five Olympic medals (four gold), captured 45 national titles, and set seven world records in the pool. Although she succeeded beyond her wildest dreams in her racing career Evans would reflect later that her experiences outside the pool as an Olympic athlete often left something to be desired.

So when LA 2028 chairman Casey Wasserman and LA Mayor Eric Garcetti first approached Evans in 2015 about the job of Chief Athlete Officer for the 2028 Games she was quick to spell out her expectations.

Evans saw her role as reminding everyone on the organizing committee every day that the athletes are the most important stakeholders in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. All decisions regarding events including timing, transportation, facilities, food and housing would be filtered through this lense.

What Is A Chief Athlete Officer?

“When I took the job, I told LA 2028 chairman Casey Wasserman and Mayor Garcetti: ‘I won’t take this job unless we put athletes at the heart of what we’re doing, and every decision we make that involves athletes will be passed through my team,’” Evans said. “That’s how my role evolved here at LA28, because Casey gave me the bandwidth to put athletes first. I think every decision we make here at LA28 is very athlete centered. We have more Olympians working here at LA28 than the IOC does in Lausanne.”

From the beginning Evans would reach out to athletes for feedback while preparing L.A.’s presentation to the IOC, including at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials. She wanted to hear their direct input for how to envision the 2028 Games. “It was an amazing experience because I got to reconnect with athletes,” Evans said.

Now in her role as Chief Athlete Officer, Evans is faced with the Herculean task of arranging accommodations for 15,000 athletes from more than 200 national Olympic committees (NOCs) across 30 different sports. As someone whose 1992 Olympic experience was impacted by her bus driver getting lost in Barcelona between prelims and finals, Evans knows firsthand how important it is for logistics to run smoothly on what might be the most important day of an athlete’s career.

Learning From The Paris 2024 Games

Evans would attend the 2024 Games in Paris not only to talk to attend events and tour facilities like the Olympic village, but seek fresh input from the athletes right after the Games. She wanted to hear the good, the bad and the ugly from their perspective.

“Having lived in three Olympic Villages and having competed in three Olympic Games … “It’s really important to understand what the athletes are experiencing,” Evans said. For Evans that meant things like comments about uncomfortable beds, limited air conditioning and food shortages. Evans is satisfied those issues have been successfully addressed in housing the athletes on the campus of UCLA.

LA 2028 Olympic Village: UCLA Campus

The athlete village for the 2028 Games will be the campus of UCLA, which has an enrollment of almost 45,000 students, with 11,000 undergraduates currently living on campus. That includes 5 dining halls and 5 casual eating areas, 9 of UCLA’s athletics facilities for training (which will allow 51% of Olympians and 62% of Paralympians to train in the village). For swimmers, divers, artistic swimmers, and water polo players, that training will include use of the 50-meter pool at the Spieker Aquatics Center.

There will be a total of 17,000 beds in the Olympic Village for athletes and support personnel. This “city within a city” will be complete with services and amenities designed with convenient access to dining options, fitness centers, TV and recreation lounges, laundry rooms, and 24-hour front desk assistance.

Security

In addition to creating optimum housing and training facilities for the athletes, Evans and the LA Organizing Committee are prioritizing their safety and security. In June of 2024, the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in the greater Los Angeles area were designated a National Special Security Event by the Secretary of Homeland Security. This marks the furthest in advance that a National Special Security Event designation has ever been granted.

“The security planning for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be a huge undertaking that will require close coordination between law enforcement and public safety partners at all levels,” said Brian Lewin, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service Los Angeles Field Office. “We are already working diligently to ensure that the games, though years away, will be secure for all athletes, attendees, and the public.”

Nobody’s Perfect

Seems like Janet Evans should feel pretty good then about her goal to put the athletes first at the 2028 Games? Yes and no. “Not every athlete is going to get every single thing because there are 27 different international federations that have needs, too,” Evans said. “It’s become an interesting transition for me away from aquatic sports, if you will, and toward the entirety of the participants at the Games, both Olympic and Paralympics. We love Team USA, but we have 206 national Olympic committees (NOCs) coming to LA. While Team USA is obviously my favorite team, we have a lot of other NOCs that have their needs also.”

The bottom line is Evans’ job is a monumental undertaking. Between now and the summer of 2028 she and the organizing committee have a never-ending task list. And It will not be perfect in the end. But I think Evans is the right person for the job. Because of her experience as an Olympic athlete and her dedication to putting the athletes first in all things at the LA 2028 games, they win. And if they win we all win.