International Cheer Union receives provisional recognition from Olympic chiefs
>> MEMPHIS: The International Cheer Union (ICU) has expressed its appreciation to the executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for its decision providing provisional recognition to the ICU.
Founded in 2004 and headquartered in the US, the ICU began its journey to be recognised six years ago when it first applied to the IOC.
The ICU’s mission is to positively advance cheerleading throughout the world.
The organisation has steadily built its membership and now has 110 national cheer federation members.
“The IOC’s actions have created a monumental milestone for cheerleading. We are truly honoured to receive this recognition by the executive board of the IOC,” said Jeff Webb, president of the International Cheer Union.
“This decision will greatly assist us as we strive to create opportunities for healthy participation and competition for millions of cheer athletes worldwide.”
“It is with great pride that we learned of the IOC’s decision,” said Karl Olson, ICU secretary- general. “We’re truly honoured as this represents an important opportunity to continue working to evolve cheerleading on a global scale.”
The ICU has developed educational training programmes for athletes, coaches and officials and has been instrumental in creating standardised rules, as well as safety programmes and regulations.
In conjunction with its national federation members, the ICU organises and supports continental and regional competitions throughout the year, culminating in an annual world championships, with the 2016 event topping over 10,000 athletes from 70 countries.
The 2017 World Championships will take place in April in Orlando, Florida.
Meanwhile, Cycling, Britain’s most successful sport at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, has suffered a £4.29 million (US$5.4 million) funding cut in the build-up to the 2020 Games in Tokyo, UK Sport announced on Friday.
Four of Britain’s less successful Olympic sports — archery, badminton, fencing and weightlifting — have lost all their funding completely along with the Paralympic sport of wheelchair rugby.
Britain’s cyclists won 12 medals in Rio, including six golds, helped by investment of 30 million pounds but that figure has been cut to 25 million for the Olympic cycle leading up to Tokyo.
Overall, up to £345 million of government and National Lottery funds will be allocated to British Olympic and Paralympic sports for Tokyo, compared with the £347 million that underpinned the country’s record-breaking performances in Brazil.
Rod Carr, the chair of UK Sport, said the British government had offered “incredible support” as the nation sought to emulate in Tokyo the second-place finishes in the Rio Olympic and Paralympic medal tables.
Despite the cut, British Cycling chief executive Ian Drake welcomed the funding, calling it a “significant investment” and adding that the organisation was becoming less reliant on public money thanks to commercial support.
Badminton is the only sport to have won a medal — a single bronze — in Rio that had its funding cut completely.
“We are staggered by this decision, it is incomprehensible,” said Adrian Christy, chief executive of GB Badminton.
“Despite the most successful Olympic Games since 2004 for GB Badminton, the decision presents a catastrophic impact on the sport.”
Liz Nicholl, chief executive of UK Sport, said her organisation would like to invest in every sport.
“But the reality is that we have to prioritise within agreed resources to protect and enhance the medal potential within the system,” she said.