newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Golf and rugby were added to the Olympic games in 2009 by the International Olympic Committee, BMX biking has been introduced, and now the call is going out for another addition.

The Pole Fitness Association and other groups are circulating petitions to have vertical dance, which they are comparing to gymnastics, added to the 2012 Olympics in London.

Women’s boxing will debut as an official sport in the 2012 games, but is pole dancing considered a legitimate sport?

According to the Washington Post, there are over 500 pole dancing fitness studios around the U.S. Amateur vertical dancers, as they are known, take part in national and international championships.

According to AFP, pole dancing also calls itself "pole fitness" to separate it from the images of erotic nightclubs. The sensual dance became a form of aerobics or "step" aerobics around 10 years ago. The Pole Fitness Association calls the routine an activity for men also, and calls pole fitness a "rigorous, tasteful and athletic art."

L.A. Weekly reported that Nadia Sharif is one of the competitors in the last round of California’s third annual Pole Dance Championships. Sharif does this as a hobby. She is not a dancer, but an electrical engineer, specializing in robotics at BP.

Vertical Dance and Labfitness feels that like the horizontal bar, the vertical bar belongs in international competitive sport. They feel the dance routine is acrobatic, gymnastic, technical, takes a great deal of physical skill and strength to master, and it deserves a spot in the greatest sporting event in the world. They say this is not a fad or a trend — the pole is here to stay.

You can sign their petition here.