Why Isn't Cheerleading an Olympic Sport?

I loved the 2024 Olympics, and my personal favorite sport to watch was gymnastics (as you may have guessed). As I was watching, I was curious about the sports that would be joining in 2028, but after a quick google search, I noticed something was missing: cheerleading. 

You may disagree, but I think that cheerleading should be in the Olympics, and it’s strange that it isn’t, since the International Olympic Committee officially recognized it as a sport in 2016.

In this article, I’ll be going over why I think that cheerleading should be in the Olympics, and why I think it hasn’t been added yet.

First of all, I would like to clarify that I’m talking about full competition routines, not just seeing who can yell the loudest or shake their pom poms the hardest. Competition routines, in this case, consist of a cheer section and a music section, both of which are choreographed with stunting, tumbling, jumps, and a dance, which all require immense levels of athleticism. If you want an accurate idea of what I’m talking about, look up “ICU Worlds 2024 Routines.”

Speaking of ICU Worlds, some have argued that one reason why cheer isn’t in the Olympics is because it doesn’t have a standardized scoring system. ICU Worlds is the cheer version of the Olympics, where each participating country sends representative teams to compete in each category. Although cheerleading judging can be ambiguous at times, many competitions utilize playbacks, making it easier to catch any mistakes. This, with the existence of ICU worlds, demonstrates how cheerleading has a standardized scoring system that can accurately compare teams. So, I don’t think that this is a valid argument for excluding cheerleading from the Olympics.

Another reason that many argue is that cheerleading is too “American,” or that it’s centralized in America, giving other countries a disadvantage. I don’t agree with this for a few reasons. First of all, baseball and flag football, some arguably “American” sports, are on the list for the 2028 Olympics. One could argue that America is at an advantage in both of these, since they are so popular here relative to other countries, yet they've still been added to the list.

Second, America doesn’t always dominate in ICU worlds, and the USA all-girl team has openly admitted to struggling to beat their foreign competitors. This shows how the US doesn’t have a great advantage, and having one wouldn’t be a valid argument for excluding it from the Olympics, considering that other sports are in the same situation.

The reason I think is most plausible is the fact that it isn’t considered a sport under Title IX, which contributes to its recognition under NCAA. I’ve written another article about recognition of cheerleading under Title IX that explains my viewpoint more in-depth, but I think it isn’t fair to not consider cheerleading a sport. In short, this is because the definition of a sport under Title IX takes the “feminized” elements of cheerleading less seriously.

You might be wondering why this is important, especially since we already have our own version of the Olympics. To me, this would help to improve the sport’s image, and to increase awareness of what modern cheerleading really is. I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again: cheerleading needs to be taken more seriously, especially considering the intense physical exertion required and the sport’s shift from the sidelines to the main event.

Overall, I think it isn’t fair to exclude cheerleading from the Olympics. In my opinion, this issue has much more to do with a false idea of cheerleading and society’s strong aversion to “feminized” performance elements than anything else. I hope that one day, this will change for the better.