USOC discuss Plan B if NHL takes pass

Cheerleading boasts increasing appeal

OLYMPICS

TORONTO, Dec 14, (RTRS): The United States Olympic Committee said on Tuesday it has discussed a Plan B with USA Hockey should the National Hockey League decide not to send players to the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games.

The NHL has participated in five consecutive Winter Games but its participation in South Korea is in doubt after the International Olympic Committee said it would no longer cover players’ costs, which have been estimated at around $10 million.

“We have had discussions with USA Hockey about a Plan B if that does not happen,” USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun said on a conference call.

“Obviously it creates more challenges for them and for us from an organisational standpoint, we’re still very hopeful the NHL players will be there.

“We know they (players) want to be there and we understand the challenges it creates for the league.

Meanwhile, cheerleading, which received provisional recognition as an Olympic sport last week, is an increasingly international activity by no means restricted to its North American birthplace, according to the man who has driven its growth over four decades.

Jim Webb has helped transform cheerleading from sideline entertainment at American football and basketball games to the sport that was granted recognition by the International Olympic Committee.

Cheerleading will now be able to tap into some IOC funding and take part in a number of programmes, including athlete development and antidoping.

At the end of their three-year provisional recognition period, they can apply to become part of the Olympic Games sports programme.

While cheerleading’s strong youth appeal was clearly attractive to the IOC, widespread international participation is also key to taking the next steps towards a place at the Summer Games.

With over 100 national federations registered with the International Cheer Union (ICU), Webb is certain the competitiveness of the sport would not be confined to just North America.

“When we first started our world championships there was a big gap between the US and Canada and now there is a lot of parity with countries from Europe and Asia that win medals and that sometimes beat the US and Canadian teams,” he told Reuters.

“Thailand has some great cheerleading. Japan has outstanding cheerleading. Some of the countries in Europe, Norway, Finland, Germany, the UK has outstanding cheerleading. It’s developing everywhere.”

The addition of cheerleading and the Thai martial art of muaythai last week takes the number of recognised Olympic sports to 37, only 28 of which were part of the programme at the Rio Olympics earlier this year.