{"id":1255,"date":"2016-08-05T16:19:49","date_gmt":"2016-08-05T16:19:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blnebeuk.serveur04.com\/blog\/?p=1255"},"modified":"2016-08-10T16:35:10","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T16:35:10","slug":"pole-dancing-next-olympic-sport-marks-get-set-slide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.netbet.co.uk\/blog\/2016\/08\/05\/pole-dancing-next-olympic-sport-marks-get-set-slide\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Pole Dancing the Next Olympic Sport? On Your Marks, Get Set\u2026 Slide!"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"Photo:
Photo: Teri Pengilley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the Olympics finally on the starting block, all eyes are on the world\u2019s top track and field athletes and\u00a0minority sports,\u00a0with an estimated two to three billion people glued to their TV screens\u00a0following the\u00a0events in Rio.<\/p>\n

But what about the sports that didn\u2019t quite make the cut?<\/p>\n

Each year, the International Olympic Committee receives a list of applications for new sports vying for a place in the games, with karate, surfing, baseball and softball among the bidders for the Tokyo\u00a0Games in 2020.<\/p>\n

And now\u00a0there’s one “sport” with Olympic ambitions that’s gaining media\u00a0traction and\u00a0grabbing\u00a0attention\u00a0of conventional sports fans, that’s more likely to conjure up images of sequins and strip bars among the general public – Pole Dancing.<\/p>\n

But forget Spearmint Rhino, skimpy outfits and salacious punters –\u00a0pole dancing\u00a0is rapidly\u00a0shedding its sexed up image\u00a0as a growing number of fellow athletes call for it to become an officially recognised athletic sport.<\/p>\n

The International Pole Sports Federation [IPSF], which was\u00a0founded in 2009, has long battled for pole dancing to be\u00a0accepted as a sport in its own right. And if you happened to be at Crystal Palace Sports Centre to witness the fifth annual Pole Sports Championships last month, you’d know\u00a0why.<\/p>\n

This annual competition\u00a0attracts\u00a0some\u00a0150 competitors from over 30 countries, battling it out for the title in front of a demanding panel of judges.
\nAnd it\u2019s most definitely not just one for the girls with five official categories –\u00a0Men, Women, Doubles, Masters (40+ and 50+) and Youth (10-14 and 15-17).<\/p>\n

A far cry from diamante-studded hot pants and 6 inch stilettos, competitors perform bare foot and wouldn\u2019t look amiss at a gymnastics competition – in fact, PVC, leather and rubber are all banned (even glitter overkill is frowned upon).<\/p>\n

And it’s just as demanding as any other sport with participants performing to a set piece of music – like ice skating – and scored on a number of technical and creative points.<\/p>\n

Requiring an artful combination of exceptional physical strength, flexibility and coordination, Pole Fitness is becoming an increasingly popular form of exercise, and regional competitions are springing up worldwide.<\/p>\n

Katie Coates, president of the International Pole Sports Federation, is delighted with the progress\u00a0her sport is making. \u201cPeople\u2019s attitudes have changed so much – they are much more open and I really haven\u2019t had any negativity,\u201d she said in an interview at this year’s Championships.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Federation\u00a0also has\u00a0plans to introduce a Paralympic category in next year\u2019s Championships.<\/p>\n

Pole dancing may not yet have earned the status of a sport but it has\u00a0moved a long way from the strip club in a\u00a0remarkably short time – the odds on it achieving Olympic status\u00a0are also shortening.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it should\u00a0go to Tokyo in 2020 instead\u00a0golf, whose Olympic\u00a0debut has been marred by the refusal of its leading stars to come to Rio on the spurious grounds of the\u00a0danger posed by the Zika virus!<\/p>\n

\"41\"
\nWords by Georgina Barnard<\/a><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the Olympics finally on the starting block, all eyes are on the world\u2019s top track and field athletes and\u00a0minority sports,\u00a0with an estimated two to three billion people glued to their TV screens\u00a0following the\u00a0events in Rio. But what about the sports that didn\u2019t quite make the cut? Each year, the International Olympic Committee receives a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1256,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8,299,345,303],"class_list":["post-1255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-8","tag-olympics","tag-pole-dancing","tag-rio-2016"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRio 2016: Is Pole Dancing the Next Olympic Sport?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pole dancing may not yet have earned the status of a sport but it has moved a long way from the strip club in a remarkably short time. 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