Pole Dance Championship 2012, New York City, United States

Pole dance competitions
Although the most common pole dance competitions are still amateur nights at strip clubs, there is a growing community who are trying to get pole dancing taken seriously as a sport and art form. There are local pageants held in venues such as Australia, France, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and the UK. More recently, amateur pole dance competitions have been held. These are strictly non-nude and non-stripping, and focus on pole dance as an athletic and artistic form of dance and exercise. The first "Miss Pole Dance World" competition was held in november 2005, and Reiko Suemune from Japan won the championship.
Pole dance competitions have attempted to shy away from amateur nights at strip clubs. These events are strictly non-nude and non-stripping with the focus placed on the athleticism and artistry of the performer rather than on pure sex appeal.
A group of advocates are even pushing for pole dancing to be represented as a test event in the 2012 London Olympics. But because this is a relatively new trend, scoring for competitions is not standardised, while names of the techniques vary among different clubs in different regions.