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Cheerleading can now officially become an Olympic sport

December 14, 2016 4:57 PM

The new sports on the roster are part of an effort by the IOC to make the Olympic Games more appealing to a younger audience

Cheerleading Can Now Officially Become an Olympic Sport

This should finally shut down all those high-school haters who dubbed cheerleading "not a real sport": This week, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially granted cheerleading "provisional Olympic status" for the 2020 Games, according to the New York Times.

At the same hearing, the IOC also approved Muay Thai, surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing for potential inclusion in the Tokyo games. The new sports on the roster are part of an effort by the IOC to make the Olympic Games more appealing to a younger audience, the Times reports.

Naturally, the social media world is lighting up with cheers for the decision.

This initial step will allow the IOC to grant $25,000 in funding to the international governing bodies of these sports—in the case of cheerleading, the International Cheer Union—for three years. During that time, the IOC can then vote to officially recognize these sports, at which point they can petition to be included in the Games, according to the Times.