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SUMMER 2018 UK blue goes gold UK cheerleaders and alums at the 2018 Winter Olympics UK cheerleaders and alumni participate in 2018 Winter Olympic events By Gail Hairston This year, several UK alumni and our talented UK cheerleaders had the op- portunity to be involved with the Winter Olympics, either as a com- petitor, an event commentator for NBC Sports or by demonstrating the physical rigors of the cheer world to viewers all over the planet. It’s our pleasure to share some of their Olympic-size Big Blue stories. 12 Summer 2018 The Blue Squad has won 23 Universal Cheerleading Assocation National Championships. Photo: UK Athletics UK cheerleaders and alumni participate in 2018 nstead of cheering for the blue National Championship title, completing Kentucky have engaged crowds, elevated Winter Olympic events and white this past February, the a perfect trifecta after championship titles spirit for generations, and won 23 national University of Kentucky cheerlead- in 2016 and 2017. Through all these ac- championships. We are excited to have ing Blue Squad took a brief hiatus complishments, Thompson has remained them show their talent and spirit on the Ito cheer for the red, white and blue at the focused on coaching his team and blocking world stage.” 2018 Winter Olympics. the outside distractions. Team USA Cheer was part of a sev- The team barely had time to catch a “Well before competing at nationals, we en-country delegation invited by the Korea collective breath after winning the school’s didn’t talk about the Olympics,” Thomp- Cheerleading Association, the Gangwon 23rd Universal Cheerleaders Association son said. “Our focus was winning the Province and the Pyeongchang 2018 Or- National Cheerleading Championship national championship. We had a lot of ganizing Committee to provide crowd sup- before they were packing their bags again, emails from different media organizations port at the Olympic Games. Teams from this time for a trip halfway around the that wanted to talk about the Olympics, Norway, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, world to Pyeongchang, South Korea. and I really tried to put that in the back- Canada, South Korea and the Netherlands One can imagine that along the way the ground because I didn’t want the team appeared with the Team USA Cheer at team practiced chanting U-S-A, U-S-A, thinking ahead.” different events and venues throughout the U-S-A to replace their time-honored, C-A- Once UK brought home the gold in the weeklong tour, supporting athletes from all T-S, CATS, CATS, CATS! Their Head national championship, the team turned to countries and supporting cheerleading in Cheerleading Coach Jomo Thompson bus- the world stage. They adopted their tem- its push to become an Olympic sport. ily fine-tuned the routine that had just won porary title, Team USA Cheer. Karl Olson, secretary general of the In- the team a national championship so that “We wanted to make sure we repre- ternational Cheer Union, told the world’s his squad of champions could represent sented the United States in the best way press, “We are pleased to see cheerleading the United States at the world’s oldest and that we could and do a really good job,” teams of the top Winter Olympic coun- most elite athletic competition. Thompson said. tries represented at the 2018 Winter Olym- In November 2017, USA Cheer an- When USA Cheer announced that UK pic Games. This will be an excellent and nounced that UK’s Blue Squad would rep- would represent the USA, its executive significant opportunity internationally to resent the United States in the 2018 Winter director Lauri Harris said, “We are proud showcase the sport of cheer and its talent- Olympics. A brief three months later, in to send the University of Kentucky to ed athletes.” January 2018, the team won the school’s represent the United States of America. The cheerleading squads performed 23rd Universal Cheerleaders Association The cheerleaders from the University of at awards ceremonies, Olympic venues, www.ukalumni.net 13 street parades, closing ceremonies and, of “We’re very fortunate that the University course, a competitive exhibition. of Kentucky represented USA Cheer in “We performed almost every day,” said the first step of the endeavor for cheer- Thompson. “But we were also able to do leading to become an Olympic sport. I some sightseeing. We visited palaces and hope it does, and I can look back 20 years participated in the Fire Festival.” from now and say we played a small part in The Fire Festival is a national holiday that,” Thompson said. celebrated on the first full moon of the But for Thompson, the best part of the Korean lunar calendar. whole experience was watching his team Team USA Cheer competed with the grow as individuals. other nations’ teams in an exhibition “Some of my team had never left the cheerleading competition. The hope was United States or even southeastern Ken- that with a strong performance, the Inter- tucky. For them to be exposed to a dif- national Olympic Committee will consider ferent culture, to see how other people in implementing the sport of cheerleading other parts of the world live, it was such into future Olympic Games. Cheerleading a great experience. It truly broadened the was granted provisional status, meaning horizons of everyone who made the trip. that it is under consideration for becoming “I’m grateful my team had the opportu- an Olympic sport. nity to participate in the Olympic experi- The global nature of cheerleading is ence. It was a great honor, and a testament probably a surprise to many who previous- to our program and our heritage of excel- ly considered it as American as a bald ea- lence.” gle. But considering the impact social me- Photo: Nancie Battaglia Photography Photo: Nancie Battaglia dia has on the world, especially college-age Simidele “Simi” Adeagbo ’03 CI young adults, no one should be surprised. heard of the skeleton sport but she was Kelsey LaCroix, a senior cheerleader on “Why not me? Why not now?” curious. With outstretched arms tucked the Blue Squad from South Elgin, Illinois, Those questions floated through the tight to the body, Olympic skeleton ath- explained why the teams from Norway, mind and heart of UK alumna Simidele letes hurtle (helmeted) head first down a Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and “Simi” Adeagbo in the months before the frozen track on a small sled at speeds hov- the Netherlands shared some of the same 2018 Winter Olympics. ering around 80 mph. moves. She couldn’t find an answer that satisfied The sleds measure about 31 to 47 inches “Social media plays a big role — You- her, so she flew headfirst down a slippery long, 13 to 15 inches wide and 3 to 8 inch- Tube, Instagram, Snapchat — getting slope — literally. es in height, all dependent on the size of more people involved. People interested Adeagbo first touched a skeleton bob- the athlete. in cheerleading — we all follow each other sled in September 2017. She had never To summarize, skeleton athletes trav- on social media,” LaCroix said. el above interstate speed limits, on ice, Coach Thompson did not hold back downhill, headfirst on a sled smaller than when asked about the pressure his team the average throw rug, bouncing about six faced while preparing for the Olympics. inches above an instantaneous face-lift. “I felt … the whole weight of the coun- Intrigued and committed, 36-year-old try on us,” he said. “We wanted to make Adeagbo began what could be one of sure we put a good foot forward and were the most impressive comeback stories in good ambassadors, not just for the Univer- sports history. sity of Kentucky, but for the United States, Adeagbo was born in Toronto to Nigeri- as well.” an parents and lived in Nigeria for a while. Once in South Korea, the team and She grew up in the United States and Thompson relaxed, especially with the Canada and eventually made her way to other cheerleaders. He said his team took UK. While earning both a bachelor’s de- a leadership role among the other teams, gree in journalism and a master’s degree in teaching them cheerleading skills they communications in 2003, Adeagbo began learned and learning from the other teams. breaking records on the UK track and field “I was impressed and humbled by the team. She became a four time All-Amer- impact Kentucky cheerleading has around ican and, until recently, was the holder the world. I saw it become the universal of the school record in the indoor and language between the teams. For the most outdoor triple jump. She was also an Ac- part, we didn’t speak their languages, and ademic All-American and Arthur Ashe Jr. they didn’t understand ours. Yet, with the Sports Scholar, and an exceptional NCAA universal language of hand gestures, they and Southeastern Conference scorer. all learned from each other. She brought all that drive and commit- Photo: Candice Ward Photography Photo: Candice Ward 14 Summer 2018 the world reporting or serving as “point speed skating is one of only six sports to guard” on Olympic speed skating, figure have appeared in every Winter Olympic skating, ice dancing, basketball, and track Games,” Hammond said. “During the and field. sprint races, the skaters reach between 30 The 2018 Winter Olympics was special, and 40 miles an hour, skating on a 400-me- however. It had the texture of a home- ter oval!” coming and was actually his third visit Hammond says the Olympics are about to South Korea. He began his Olympic much more than competition.

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