Ballroom Dancing Seeks to Step Into Olympics

An explosion in the popularity of ballroom dancing has got fans hoping it can quickstep its way past golf, bridge and bowling to the top of the waiting list for new Olympic sports, the Wall Street Journal reports. Olympic honchos place a lot of importance on big audiences, and the global success of Dancing With the Stars has pulled in tens of millions of viewers.

Proposals to add ballroom dancing to the Olympic roster have caused spats in the dance world, with dancers unable to agree if what they're doing is a sport, a contest, an art—or all three. "DanceSport" has been recognized by the Olympics, but with the IOC's dance card for 2012 filled and the short list of sports for consideration for 2016 already set,  the chance of a gold medal for the foxtrot is 12 years away, at best. (More dancing stories.)