Is Pickleball an Olympic Sport? Where It Stands in 2026
No. As of 8 October 2026, pickleball is not an Olympic sport and is not on the Los Angeles 2028 sports list. It is still an organized sport. It has an official rulebook first published in 1984, a national governing body in the United States, and rival international federations that say they want Olympic recognition.
This page lists each fact with who said it and when we read it. Pickleball's origin story is on the history page, and the rules are on the rules page.
Where does pickleball stand in 2026?
Every row below was read on 8 October 2026. Where a page shows its own date, that date is in the source column.
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Is pickleball on the LA28 Olympic sports list? | No. The list runs from 3x3 basketball to wrestling and includes squash, cricket and flag football. Pickleball is not on it. | LA28, Olympic Sports |
| Does the Global Pickleball Federation (GPF) claim IOC recognition? | No. Its homepage offers "the opportunity for Olympic participation for your country" to members. It makes no claim to recognition. A board member's bio on the same site says the GPF has "nearly 80" member federations. | GPF homepage |
| What does the World Pickleball Federation (WPF) say about itself? | "Pursuing IOC recognition." It also says it is "Unified with the IPF" (the International Pickleball Federation). Its homepage shows two counts: "73" federations engaged with the WPF, and "67" member federations across five confederations. | WPF homepage |
| Does the IOC list a pickleball federation as recognized? | No. The IOC's "Recognised Federations" page names 38 federations, from the Federation of International Bandy to the World Underwater Federation. None is for pickleball. | IOC, Recognised Federations |
| Are the federations merging? | They have said they will talk. On 17 November 2025 the GPF and the United World Pickleball Federation announced a joint task force to build a single governing body. On 4 September 2026 the GPF published an FAQ on "Olympic Pathways and Unification". | GPF announcement, GPF FAQ page |
| Who governs pickleball in the United States? | USA Pickleball, "the National Governing Body of American pickleball." | 2026 USA Pickleball rulebook, opening page |
| Is there an official rulebook? | Yes. The 2026 edition is the current one, and the first official rulebook came out in March 1984. | Same rulebook |
| How many people play it? | SFIA estimates 24.3 million Americans aged 6 and up played pickleball in 2025, up from about 4.2 million in 2020. USA Pickleball reports 104,828 members (updated 30 January 2026). Members are not players. | SFIA, USA Pickleball annual growth report |
| Is pickleball a state sport anywhere? | Washington. "The sport of pickleball is hereby designated as the official sport of the state of Washington." Signed 28 March 2022. | RCW 1.20.200, Senate Bill 5615 |
Why isn't pickleball in the Olympics yet?
The Games take sports that have an international federation recognized by the IOC, and pickleball has more than one federation. That is the reason the pickleball bodies give themselves.
The GPF's own FAQ says the IOC "only recognizes one" international federation per sport. It lists the way in: all the competing federations merge into one that meets the Olympic Charter, or a federation joins AIMS, a body that helps new sports toward recognition, or pickleball becomes a discipline under an existing federation such as tennis. It also says plainly that unification "does not guarantee" a place at the Games. Those are the GPF's statements, not the IOC's.
A 2024 ESPN report (8 August 2024) described the same problem. It named three competing federations and quoted the World Pickleball Federation's president calling the pickleball community the biggest challenge. An IOC spokesperson only pointed the reporter to the official process.
Will pickleball be in the 2028 Olympics?
No. The LA28 sports list above doesn't include it. The earliest date anyone has put on it is 2032. The GPF's About page says its planned unified national, continental and international system "will result in pickleball participating in the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane, Australia." That is a goal from one federation, not a forecast. This page won't guess at 2036 or later, because no source gives a date.
Is pickleball a real sport?
Yes, by any plain test. "Real sport" has no official definition, so here are four tests of our own, each answered from the table.
- Written rules. The rulebook calls pickleball "a paddle sport", and the first official rulebook came out in 1984.
- A governing body. USA Pickleball is the national governing body in the United States.
- Organized competition. The rulebook has a full tournament section, and a sanctioned tournament lets players get a rating.
- Recognition in law. Washington State named it the official state sport.
Olympic status is a separate question. Plenty of real sports have never been in the Games. One more thing to keep apart: the WPF homepage reports pickleball as a full participating sport at the 2026 World Maccabi Games (a news item dated 20 July 2026). That is a different event from the Olympics.
Who runs pickleball?
Four groups come up. USA Pickleball writes the rules for the United States, and this site follows its rulebook. The other three are international federations with near-identical names: the Global Pickleball Federation (GPF), the World Pickleball Federation (WPF, which says it is unified with the International Pickleball Federation) and the United World Pickleball Federation (UWPF), which is in talks with the GPF about a single body. The how-to-play guide and what is pickleball explain the game itself, and how many people play pickleball explains what each survey counts. Our free pickleball video game uses the same 2026 rules, and you can play it here.
How to check this yourself
Each row shows when we read it, and the facts here move fast. Open the two lists and compare them with the table. We read both on 8 October 2026.
- Go to the LA28 Olympic Sports page and look for pickleball.
- Go to the IOC's Recognised Federations page and look for a pickleball federation.
A federation that says it is pursuing recognition is telling you it doesn't have it yet. That is different from the IOC listing it. If either page disagrees with this table, trust the page.
Sources
- 2026 USA Pickleball Official Rulebook: opening page (first rulebook March 1984; USA Pickleball as National Governing Body; sanctioned tournaments give a rating), Section 1 ("a paddle sport") and the Part III tournament rules.
- LA28, Olympic Sports: the Olympic sports list, from 3x3 basketball to wrestling, with no pickleball.
- IOC, Recognised Federations: the 38 recognized federations, none for pickleball.
- Global Pickleball Federation, homepage: the "opportunity for Olympic participation" line, and the "nearly 80" members figure in a board member's bio.
- Global Pickleball Federation, About: the 2032 Brisbane Olympics goal.
- GPF and UWPF joint initiative (17 November 2025): the joint task force toward a single governing body.
- GPF, Olympic Pathways and Unification FAQ (4 September 2026) and its PDF: the IOC recognizes one federation per sport, the three routes in, and "does not guarantee" entry.
- World Pickleball Federation, homepage: "Pursuing IOC recognition", "Unified with the IPF", and the 73 and 67 federation counts.
- WPF, 2026 World Maccabi Games item (20 July 2026): pickleball as a full participating sport at the Maccabi Games.
- USA Pickleball annual growth report: 104,828 members, updated 30 January 2026.
- SFIA, U.S. pickleball participation: 24.3 million players in 2025 and about 4.2 million in 2020.
- RCW 1.20.200 and Senate Bill 5615 summary: Washington's state sport law, signed by the governor 28 March 2022.
- ESPN, Olympics and pickleball (8 August 2024): the three competing federations and the IOC's reply.