Cheerleading and Muay Thai kickboxing are a step closer to becoming Olympic sports after receiving provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
As part of the recognition, both sports will receive $US25,000 ($NZ35,615) in annual funding from the IOC.
They can apply to become part of the Olympic Games programme after three years.
Should they apply and be successful, they would join Baseball/Softball, Surfing, Karate, Skateboarding and Sport Climbing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
IOC sports director Kit McConnell said that the growth of cheerleading as a sport justified its recognition as a potential Olympic sport.
"Cheerleading is a sport with growing popularity. It has a strong youth focus and we noted that," he said.
Cheerleading has a massive fan base with nearly 4.5 million registered athletes.
And while Muay Thai has only 400,000 registered athletes around the world, the organisation recognises 135 national federations.
Becoming part of the Olympic Games typically can take up to seven years.
However, host cities are allowed to introduce sports of their choice on a one-off appearance.
Newshub.
