TOKYO - For Japan's Mai Sato, watching all those gold medals being handed out in Vancouver is a bittersweet experience.
Sato knows the demands of being the best. In her world, blisters are the rule, bruises a way of life. And the training — five hours a day, five days a week.
The world champion in her sport, Sato is as athletic, dedicated and competitive as the Olympians representing their nations. And she thinks it's high time her discipline, too, got some real recognition.
Still, pole dancing? In the Olympics?
Absolutely, say thousands of pole dancers and the rapidly growing number of international and national federations transforming what was once the exclusive property of strip clubs and cheap bars into a respectable — and highly athletic — event.
"I could definitely see pole dancing in the Olympics," said Sato, who, a dancer since the age of three, out-twirled a bevy of athletes from 11 countries at the second International Pole Dancing Fitness Championships in Tokyo two months ago. "I would love to win a gold medal."
If cricket can't make it ...
It's admittedly a high bar.
Established sports such as squash and cricket have failed to make the Olympic cut, baseball and softball were recently given the ax, and the International Olympic Committee's decision to end its support of nonofficial, demonstration sports after the Summer Games in 1992 has made gaining a foothold, the way judo and taekwondo did, all that much harder.
Plus, pole dancing needs to first gain IOC recognition as a sport — an uphill battle if ever there was one.
No matter, pole dance enthusiasts say.
Hong Kong-based Ania Przeplasko, the founder of the International Pole Dancing Fitness Association, the sport's fledgling supervisory body, believes Olympic recognition is only a matter of time and would be a victory for underappreciated sports worldwide.
"There will be a day when the Olympics see pole dancing as a sport," she said. "The Olympic community needs to acknowledge the number of people doing pole fitness now. We're shooting for 2012."
If you want to read more about this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35524563/ns/world_news-weird_news/#storyContinued
MY personal note: When I think about pole dancing, I think strip clubs or something of a adult nature. I know that
may be stereotypical but what can I say. This is how today society allows us to think. No matter how people try to rationalize this, the reality is that this type of exercise ( i guess that is what I can call it) is of a sexual nature. Which would mean if it became a part of the Olympics- I may have to now be concerned with the Olympics content of television broadcasting. But with that said What do You think?
God Bless you..
No comments:
Post a Comment