Eideard

Natasha Wang just won the US Championship

Set up by Vertical Dance’s KT Coates, the ‘Get Pole Dance Accepted into the Olympics’ petition also has the backing of Labfitness, a fellow fitness firm…

‘After a great deal of feedback from the Pole Dance community, many of us have decided that its about time pole fitness is recognised as a competitive sport – and what better way for recognition than to be part of the 2012 Olympics held in London!’ reads the petition.

‘Like the horizontal bar, the vertical bar should have a place in international competitive sport,’ it continues.

Comparing pole dancing to the likes of gymnastics and figure-skating, the group point out that it’s ‘acrobatic, gymnastic, technical and takes a great deal of physical skill and strength to master, earning it a place in the greatest sporting event in the world’…

‘This is an international sport that both men, women and those that are on a low income can take part in, unlike sports such as horse riding, sailing and snow based sports.’

At the time I signed the petition, there was a total of 5,756 signatures. To add your signature to the list simply click here.

Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

Thousands of flushed condoms threaten to choke the Commonwealth Games village’s drainage system in the latest problem to hit the venue.

Games organisers, who won a race against time to ready the village, are now battling to clear clogged drains after thousands of non-biodegradable contraceptives were flushed down lavatories in the first week of the event.

“If that is happening, it shows that there is use of condoms and I think that is a very positive story. Athletes are being responsible,” Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell told a news conference on Thursday.

“We all know that encouraging safe sex is a very important thing to do.”

Games organisers had provided 8,000 free condoms in the village, and the provision appears to be in high demand…

Following a decision to provide free condoms at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, it has become something of a tradition.

At the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, athletes quickly used up the 70,000 free condoms provided, forcing organisers to supply another 20,000, while at the 2004 Games in Athens, the provision was doubled to 130,000.

At both the Beijing Games in 2008, and the Vancouver Winter Olympics in February, 100,000 condoms were provided for athletes.

I know some coaches who wouldn’t approve. Har!

First Nation Chiefs transport Olympic flame across Vancouver Harbour in a miner’s lamp
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission