Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Pole Dancing in the Olympics

A new sport may be coming to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The International Pole Sport Federation is trying hard to get pole dancing into the upcoming games. It has become incredibly popular around the world and there are thousands of skilled, trained dancers who would be competing to make it to there. There are currently many international pole dancing competitions held all over the world and they get very big turnouts.
There is a big hurdle to climb in order to make it to the Olympics. The Olympic Committee must recognize pole dancing as a sport. With its reputation as a workout done by strippers, it will be an uphill battle to get it recognized by 2016. Pole dancing has moved far beyond what you see in a strip club and involves many complex dance routines and does not involve the removal of clothing.
Pole dancing does have incredible athletes and it takes a lot of skill, strength and endurance to become a professional pole dancer. These dancers are manipulating their full body weight while performing holds, inversions and climbs. It could easily be included in the gymnastics category where it would probably steal a lot of viewers. In fact, it could be considered vertical gymnastics. You can't deny that it would create quite a buzz before the next games.
Participation in pole dancing has increased an incredible amount over the last few years and has attracted a lot of athletic women. Classes are filling up in fitness centers around the world and women realize it is a great way to stay in shape. Not only that, but women are loving it and moving on to more advanced moves. The more popular it gets, the more people will be attracted to competing in the events held around the world.
If rhythmic gymnastics can be included as a sport I really don't see why pole dancing couldn't make it as well. There are a few mental barriers it will have to hurdle beforehand, but all it would take is some education of the public and for it to continue to gain popularity. The last time the International Pole Federation tried to get it in the games they received 6000 signatures. I'm betting that we will see way more signatures this time around with the increase in its popularity. Who knows, maybe we'll be watching something a little more exciting next Olympic games.