Every time a new Olympic Games wraps up, search interest in "is padel an Olympic sport" spikes - and it's a fair question for a sport that's grown as fast as padel has. Here's the honest, current answer.
No - Not Yet
Padel is not currently an Olympic sport. It didn't feature at the Paris Games, and as things stand, it won't be part of the official program for Los Angeles 2028 either.
But the Push Is Real
The sport's explosive growth in recent years has fueled a genuine push from within the padel community to get it added to a future Olympic program, and the International Padel Federation (FIP) is actively working toward Olympic recognition. That's a meaningfully different position than a sport with no institutional backing at all - FIP's involvement means there's a formal body advocating for inclusion, not just fan speculation.
Why It Hasn't Happened Yet
Olympic inclusion is a slow, political, and statistically demanding process. The IOC weighs global reach, gender parity, youth appeal, existing infrastructure, and how a sport fits the host city's plans. Padel scores well on several of these:
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Explosive global growth. Global search interest in padel grew over 1,000% between 2004 and 2025, with virtually all of that growth concentrated in the last five years, and worldwide interest rose roughly 49% in just the most recent 12-month period.
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Genuine international spread. Six countries entered the global top-20 interest rankings for the first time in the latest report, including Indonesia - the first Southeast Asian market to break through - alongside emerging interest in places like Cyprus and the Baltics.
Where padel is still catching up is infrastructure density outside its heartland markets, and the sheer amount of lead time the IOC requires to add a sport to a Games that's already largely locked in (LA 2028's program was finalized years in advance).
What Would Have To Happen Next
Realistically, padel's Olympic case builds through:
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Continued global court and participation growth outside Spain, Argentina, and Italy, its traditional strongholds.
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A stronger, more unified professional circuit, which has itself been a subject of debate - competition between circuits and the need for a clearer federative structure and unified rankings and calendars are among the sport's own acknowledged growing pains heading into 2026.
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A formal bid cycle, most plausibly aimed at the 2032 Games or beyond, since the LA 2028 sport list is effectively set.
In the Meantime
Padel doesn't need the Olympics to keep growing - it's already doing that on its own. The professional Premier Padel tour alone runs a 26-event, 18-country calendar in 2026, including four Major tournaments, and participation numbers keep climbing across Europe and increasingly the Americas and Asia.
The Bottom Line
Padel is not an Olympic sport today, and it won't be at LA 2028. But it has an active federation pushing for inclusion and a growth curve that gives that push real substance - which is exactly why this remains one of the most-asked questions about the sport's future, rather than a settled "no."