Lisa
Jun 27, 2023
Joachim Block
My participation in the ICU Junior World & World Cheerleading Championships 24 - 26 April 2024 in Orlando, Florida, USA.
We stayed in a hotel with cottages, from there it was 20 minutes to ESPN and 1 hour to our training hall, where we trained every morning until noon. In addition, there were extra training sessions on the grass. There was also the option to go ice swimming after the training sessions.
On the first day of the World Championships, the event started with the run-in of all youth teams, along with the athletes' oath. In the afternoon we competed in our category, despite music problems we managed to qualify for the final.
On the second day we took part in the big opening ceremony and the founder announced that now 119 countries belong to the International Cheer Union and that after 11 years the sport of cheer has finally become an Olympic discipline.
After cheering on our pom dance team, we were held up on the way to the main hall as a fire alarm meant the whole area had to be evacuated. This happened a 2nd time that day, which caused the organisers to apologise and all senior teams made it to the finals. Due to the evacuations, the schedule shifted, which meant that we were still competing at 22:00 local time.
We were able to take 4th place in a very strong field of starters.
This was celebrated in a big way and with many tears we finally said goodbye before we went home again.
Lisa Kunert