When I say citius, you say altius; when I say altius, you say fortius. Or don’t. That’s fine, too, traditional even. But these Olympics have conspicuously defied traditional notions by having cheerleaders, in a few different styles, at a few different venues. In basketball, dance teams perform between matches. In beach volleyball, highly choreographed teams delight attendees.
The beach volleyball cheerleaders are more like dancers in two-piece bathing suits, which it must be said, are actually a bit more conservative than those worn by the female players. In indoor volleyball, once known as volleyball, spectators were treated to more traditional cheerleaders doing routines you’d find at most high school basketball games.
Waving pom-poms and doing flips in between dances was the cheer squad from Crimson Heat, an English cheer team invited by the London organizing committee to cheer on volleyball. Not any particular tram, just volleyball — at the club’s own expense.
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