Yes, you read that headline correctly.

Could pole dancing become a Summer Olympic event in time for the 2012 games in London? Several groups of women are trying to make that happen, including one right here in the Valley.

Nyla Farraz, a pole dancing instructor at Pussycats Pole Dance at Team Yoga Studio in Scottsdale, says Olympic pole dancing is a possibility. “There’s a group of us that have gotten together, and we’re trying to get pole dancing to be recognized for the next Olympics,” she said, but also acknowledged it’s an uphill battle. “We’re meeting some resistance, because it’s pole dancing, but if you look at any of the rhythmic gymnastics, really what the girls are doing is basically rhythmic gymnastics, just on a vertical steel pole. The material is no different.”

Petition to make Pole Dancing an Olympic sport here.

The movement is also gaining momentum in, of all places, Utah. Below is a video from Utah television station KUTV, featuring some unlikely pole dancing enthusiasts who would like to see pole taken to the next level.

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