“The Road to LA 28: The African Olympians,” a docu-reality series spotlighting Africa’s Olympic aspirations, was officially announced last week at the International Salon for Audiovisual Content (SICA) in Ivory Coast.
The project will follow athletes from seven African nations as they prepare to qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Though still in early development, the series is set for twelve 24-minute episodes. Emmy-winning South African producer Dan Jawitz and former head of South African sports broadcaster SuperSport, Gary Rathbone, who are at the helm of the ambitious project, are seeking additional broadcast and institutional partners to support the multi-year production.
The series will chart the emotional and physical journeys of Olympic medalists and rising hopefuls across a diverse range of sports — from Africa’s well-established Olympic disciplines like long-distance running, boxing, swimming and football, to emerging ones including taekwondo, table tennis, volleyball, and rugby.
Additional two one-hour specials are planned for release after the 2028 Games to capture the athletes’ Olympic experiences and their return home.
For now, the series will feature athletes from Ivory Coast, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, but Jawitz says that a few more may make the podium.
“We chose SICA in Abidjan to launch the show because Ivory Coast has a great sporting tradition and has already proven themselves as Olympic medal winners, and will thus be an integral part of the story we tell,” said Rathbone.
Karl Boluwa, networking manager at SICA, welcomed the project’s announcement, saying, “We are very honored that the producers have chosen SICA to launch the series, and to use our platform to reach broadcasters and other organizations.
Thanks to productive meetings at SICA, the team is now in discussions with several key broadcasters, including Canal+ International, SABC, RTI (Côte d’Ivoire), RTS (Senegal), KBC (Kenya), ZBC (Zimbabwe), and Max TV (Ghana). They are also in talks with the African Union of Broadcasting to distribute the series across its network of more than 40 member countries.
Gary Rathbone and Dan Jawitz
Courtesy of Gary Rathbone and Dan Jawitz
