All-Star Olympics Just Granted Cheer Provisional Staus

[mamabear]

Muaythai, cheerleading granted provisional Olympic status

The martial art of muaythai and cheerleading, with its strong youth appeal, received provisional recognition as Olympic sports by the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday.

The two sports will now be able to tap into some IOC funding and take part in a number of programmes, including athlete development and anti-doping. They take the number of recognised Olympic sports to 37.

"Muaythai is an organisation with 135 national federations, nearly 60 are recognised by their national Olympic Committees and nearly 400,000 registered athletes," said IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell following the decision of the IOC Executive Board.

"The international cheer union (ICU) has over 100 national federations and nearly 4.5 million registered athletes," McConnell added.

"It is a sport with growing popularity, a strong youth focus in schools and universities and we noted that."

McConnell, who said 16 sports had applied for recognition, added that both muaythai and cheerleading would receive $25,000 a year as direct funding from the IOC.

While becoming part of the Olympic Games is a drawn-out seven-year progress, the IOC has changed the rules to allow host cities to introduce sports of their choice for a one-off appearance in the Games.

Tokyo, hosts of the 2020 Games, will have surfing, sport climbing and karate among the six new sports they have included in their Olympics.

"The door has not been shut for the other applicants," McConnell said, without naming any of the 14 sports which did not receive recognition. "We will continue to look at the other applications we received."

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis)

 

[SL&AM]

I have very mixed feelings on this.

I'll come back later once I've sorted it all out in my head.

 

[DanaBurkey]

I have very mixed feelings on this.

I'll come back later once I've sorted it all out in my head.

I agree. It's like exciting, but at the same time I think what makes cheer so magical is that it is all about Worlds and NCA and Summit, and it is this whole amazing thing happening that so many people aren't even aware of. Sure, helping people understand all star cheer is great and part of the inspiration for my books and all that, but I feel like the Olympics is not the place to go to get the recognition cheer deserves. Maybe we could start by actually getting media coverage of Worlds?

 

[Doctorcheer]

I think this is a step in the right direction. I wonder how this will impact the pretty much monopoly on cheer here in the USA by Varsity. Maybe we can actually get a governing body that isnt so intertwined with Varsity

 

[Official OWECheer]

This is weird; Varsity has been lobbying for cheer to NOT receive sport status (that way they can keep camp and national attendance up, so more $$$) but they've been trying to prove to Sport Accord that it IS in fact a sport...:enjoyshow:

 

[Cheerfun2]

It is so interesting to think about! So eventually there will be a U.S. National cheer team? Will it be populated via a tryout process? Will the athletes come from collegiate teams or all-star teams? It definitely seems like it would put a greater individual emphasis on the sport. I am actually excited thinking about how my cp will feel when she hears this...I think it will make most cheerleaders very proud to participate in an Olympic sport.

 

[Pebbles49]

It is so interesting to think about! So eventually there will be a U.S. National cheer team? Will it be populated via a tryout process? Will the athletes come from collegiate teams or all-star teams? It definitely seems like it would put a greater individual emphasis on the sport. I am actually excited thinking about how my cp will feel when she hears this...I think it will make most cheerleaders very proud to participate in an Olympic sport.

I was thinking the same thoughts and my daughter. I think this news might motivate ex-cheerleaders to get back into the sport, and for me, not to see it as just an expensive time consuming hobby..

 

[LittleMissA17]

Woah this is something. Hopefully this means other countries will be able to join the sport so the worlds mat gets more competitive.

 

[RandomCheerMom]

Cool, but the big bad V isn't going to go for this.

 

[TealArmySparkle]

Years ago I would have been happy about this. Now I'm just conflicted because as much as cheer deserves more recognition the mess that the "governing body" is in due to varsity right now is a joke and I frankly don't want that shambles anywhere near something as great as the Olympics until it gets its act together as cheer will be made a laughing stock. Fingers crossed this kills some of the aspects I don't like - such as the Pagentry and varsity in general - but if it doesn't then let's just see how this goes.

 

[nicolee]

I'm conflicted about this.

On the one hand, any extra recognition and funding that cheer gets is fantastic, and helps us grow. Being recognized by the Olympic committee is definitely a huge boost.

My biggest problem with cheer moving closer to being an Olympic sport is the American saturation of the sport, which I don't think anyone can deny. Look at Worlds: yes, there are hugely competitive international teams, but the majority of divisions are still competed amongst mostly American teams. This is a sport that was invented in the US, is still predominantly competed in the US, and has not yet spread to a lot of other countries (although it has rapidly spread over the past few years). A sport like that, which is likely to be dominated by a single country for decades, is not an Olympic sport to me.

Jacques Rogge said this when baseball was being voted out of the Olympics: "To be on the Olympic program is an issue where you need universality as much as possible. You need to have a sport with a following, and you need to have the best players." I think this could describe cheerleading at the moment – we need more time to develop and spread.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, as becoming an Olympic sport is a loooong process.

 

[Belinda]

I just wanna make sure y'all know you already have a us national team, with try outs, right? They compete ICU on dead floor like the rest of us, and would probably be the team competing at the Olympics should that day come haha.

On another note, about worlds and nca being the big guns and all. I know free skiing and snowboarding faced the same kinda feelings from fans and athletes with xgames. But the Olympics is only every 4th year, and xgames is still the most prestigious amongst the riders. So I don't think the status nor attendance for worlds or nca would change.

 

[quietmom]

Oh dear. If cheer becomes an official Olympic sport, then the u$a$f and var$ity may actually have to take athlete safety seriously. Oh my...

 

[SL&AM]

Oh dear. If cheer becomes an official Olympic sport, then the u$a$f and var$ity may actually have to take athlete safety seriously. Oh my...

No more wet mats!

 

[NJ Coach]

I just wanna make sure y'all know you already have a us national team, with try outs, right? They compete ICU on dead floor like the rest of us, and would probably be the team competing at the Olympics should that day come haha.

On another note, about worlds and nca being the big guns and all. I know free skiing and snowboarding faced the same kinda feelings from fans and athletes with xgames. But the Olympics is only every 4th year, and xgames is still the most prestigious amongst the riders. So I don't think the status nor attendance for worlds or nca would change.

This. ICU would be what Olympic Cheerleading is.