Pole dancing: Serious sport or seedy sexiness?

Pole dancers say that the discipline that goes into the activity qualifies it as a sport. Photos: AFP

At the World Pole Dance Championships finals in Beijing, competitors in skin-tight suits insist that their discipline deserves Olympic recognition.

More than 50 limber and lithe athletes representing over ten countries on four continents – some dressed as Roman centurions, wolves and sharks – hoped their routines could help cut the sport from being linked to seedy strip clubs.