Cheerleading and muay thai have officially been given provisional recognition as Olympic sports by the International Olympic Committee. The sports director of the IOC, Kit McConnell stated, “Cheerleading is a sport with growing popularity. It has a strong youth focus and we noted that.”
The sports will both receive $25,000 in annual funding and will be able to apply to become part of the Olympic Games in three years. If cheerleading and muay thai officially become part of the Olympics, the Games will have a total of 37 sports.
The 2020 Games in Tokyo will include six new sports: karate, baseball, softball, skateboarding, surfing, and climbing.
