When the Olympic and Paralympic Games roll into Los Angeles in 2028, athletes from all over the world will compete at CSUDH. The campus is hosting five Olympic and three Paralympic events, including field hockey, rugby sevens, tennis, and archery.

While those sports are making their debuts on campus, one is returning to CSUDH: track cycling. Dominguez Hills has been one of the centers of the track cycling world for more than 40 years, a legacy that began when the university’s first velodrome opened.

That facility was built in preparation for the 1984 Summer Olympics. Then-CSUDH President Donald Gerth wanted the campus to be included in the Games, and he approached Olympic Organizing Committee Chair Peter Ueberroth about the possibility. When Ueberroth asked if he would be interested in building a velodrome, Gerth famously replied, “We’ll take it. What’s a velodrome?”

He soon learned that a velodrome is a cycling arena with a steeply banked oval track, and construction on the structure commenced in 1981. Its official name was the 7-Eleven Velodrome, as funding was provided by the convenience store chain. By 1982, the outdoor track was up and running on the location where the Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium now stands. It hosted several races in preparation for the Games.

During the Olympics, five track cycling races took place at the velodrome, with American riders Steve Hegg and Mark Gorski winning gold medals. When the games left town, the velodrome continued to host cycling events, but it also transformed into a multi-use arena that hosted everything from concerts to monster truck rallies. Bands ranging from the Grateful Dead to Metallica performed at the venue, as did acts playing at the Lollapalooza festival in the early 1990s.

The original velodrome was torn down to make way for the soccer stadium where the L.A. Galaxy play. The stadium agreement required AEG, which owns the Galaxy and leases the stadium property, to construct a new, state-of-the-art riding complex to replace it.

More than 40 years after building its first velodrome for the Olympics, CSUDH is ready to welcome the world back.

The VELO Sports Center, built in 2004, is the largest indoor velodrome in the United States and serves as the home track and training center for the U.S. national cycling and paracycling teams. It hosts international competitions that draw the world’s top cyclists — as well as classes that let riders at every skill level learn to ride on the indoor track.

“We are a multi-use facility that encompasses cycling, volleyball, basketball, and pickleball,” says Travis Smith, manager of the VELO Sports Center. “Anyone can use it by paying the drop-in fee. On any given day, you might see NBA players on our courts or just everyday players from the community.”

Smith, a former Canadian champion and elite cycling coach, is already preparing to welcome the world to back to CSUDH and the VELO Sports Center. “LA28 and AEG are working together to showcase our facility and campus in the best possible way to the whole world in 2028.”

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