Dancesport Set For European Games Debut

Dancesport is among the new sports set to be included on the programme in the European Games, after it was announced that the inaugural competition will make its debut at Baku in 2015.

According to media reports, it is expected to be confirmed as one of two non-Olympic sports, along with karate, when the full programme is finalised next March.

Dancesport was originally invented to help competitive ballroom dancing gain Olympic recognition and the international governing body, World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), is recognised by the International Olympic Committee.

Dancesport made its debut at a major international event in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, where there were five events in standard dance and five in Latin.

The WDSF now embraces several different genres of dance and has a total of 88 members, 65 of whom are recognised by their National Olympic Committees. 

Dancesport’s growth has been boosted by the popularity of shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, which started on the BBC in 2004 and is now shown in more than 40 countries around the world.

The idea for a European Games has been on the agenda for several years, since current International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge was head of the EOC more than a decade ago, but this is the first time that a vote had been held on the proposal.

Up to 7,000 athletes are expected to take part in 15 sports and two non-Olympic sports, with 13 sports already been confirmed.

The sports are archery, badminton, boxing, canoeing, fencing, handball, judo, rugby sevens, shooting, taekwondo, table tennis, triathlon and volleyball.

Negotiations are currently taking place with the governing body for European swimming, and the European Union of Gymnastics, however the Olympics biggest sport, athletics, are still yet to pledge their commitment with the European Athletics Association already voting against the participation of its members.