China's Cheerleaders Show Their Olympic Spirit

While many fans from across the globe look forward to seeing athletes compete, they're probably not anticipating the elite group of China's official cheerleading squad.

Six hundred cheerleaders comprise the volunteer squad, which has been practicing up to six hours a day.  They've even received coaching from the New England Patriots' cheerleaders. 

Beyond the chosen few, the Olympic organizers have recruited 200,000 who will cheer for teams worldwide.  Some of these cheerleaders don't have very much experience and fairly simple dance moves, but their pep and spirit should be more than sufficient to energize Olympic players and fans.

Cheerleaders haven't always been a part of Chinese athletics, since they don't usually make an appearance at some of China's historically most popular sports like ping-pong.  While the elite cheerleaders will perform many Western-style acrobatics and dances for seventeen Olympic sports, including ping pong and archery, they were also chosen based on their ability to reflect Chinese culture.

Special performances will probably reflect a hybrid of Western and Chinese styles, but even more interesting to watch will be the additional cheerleaders, of all ages, shapes, and sizes, who will be encouraging teams from all the countries.  Organizers have even unveiled "Dongdong" the official Olympic cheerleading mascot.

You can see some of the cheering practices here, but I highly doubt the Olympic cheerleaders can top these guys.   Of course, all the spectators can cheer along with the official Olympic cheer directions. 

Perhaps George W. Bush, arguably the world's most famous cheerleader, can join in.