Cheerleading Earns Provisional Olympic Status!

Today marks a pivotal day in cheerleading history. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted in favor of Including Cheerleading among the provisional Olympic sports.

What exactly does that mean? Provisional sport status allows organizations to receive funding and special grants for a 3-year period. During this time cheerleading can also petition to be fully included in the Olympic Games. Sixteen sports total applied for provisional status and muaythai along with cheer was accepted, taking the number of recognized olympic sports from 35 to 37.

The ICU (International Cheerleading Union), located in the U.S. is the world governing body of cheer and has been hosting the ICU World Championship for years. The organization tweeted this earlier today:

Today- ICU / Cheerleading received provisional IOC recognition! An incredible milestone! #cheer #IOC #ICUcheer https://t.co/EwD2nPesoQ pic.twitter.com/ZWgKJSAaYz

— Int'l Cheer Union (@ICUcheer) December 7, 2016

And the ICU is not alone! Cheerleading fans, athletes and coaches everywhere are voicing their excitement over this epic milestone. Will we see cheerleaders at the Olympics games in Tokyo 2020? We hope so!

Watch the All Girl U.S. National Team go for gold at the ICU world championship in 2016!