Aerial Sports Beyond the Spectacle – Professional Development, World Championship Success and Olympic Dreams

Kateryna Kostrikova, Head Coach of the Ukrainian National Aerial Acrobatics Team, IPSF Head Judge Level 3 and Vice President of the Ukrainian Federation of Pole Sport and Aerial Acrobatics, spoke to Sport.ua about the development of the sport, professional education, Ukraine’s international success and the long-term Olympic ambitions of pole and aerial sports.

The interview highlights how much the sport has evolved over the past decade. Pole and aerial sports are no longer simply associated with spectacular performances. Today, they represent a structured international sporting discipline with national teams, international judges, professional coaches, unified rules, World Championships and established athlete development systems.

Building a professional sporting system

According to Kostrikova, the development of organised pole sport in Ukraine began in 2012. Since then, significant work has been invested in coach and judge education, competitions, educational resources and the development of a professional sporting structure.

Ukraine became a member of the International Pole & Aerial Sports Federation (IPSF) in 2014, opening the way for Ukrainian athletes and officials to become increasingly involved in the international sporting community.

Kostrikova herself became Ukraine’s first IPSF Head Judge Level 3 in 2015, the highest level of international judging qualification. She later joined the Head Judge Support Panel, an international group of experts supporting Head Judges in dealing with complex judging situations.

Education as a foundation for sustainable development

One of the key themes of the interview is the importance of professional education.

Kostrikova established PoleEducation, an educational project focused on developing modern resources and professional standards for coaches and judges.

She also authored Ukraine’s first anatomy textbook specifically for pole sport, aiming to help coaches base athlete preparation on modern scientific knowledge rather than intuition or informal advice.

For Kostrikova, the success of a sporting system cannot be measured only through personal achievements. It can also be seen in the quality of judging, coaching and athlete preparation.

15 World Championship medals – including 11 gold

One of the strongest examples she gives is Ukraine’s performance at the most recent World Championship in Buenos Aires.

The Ukrainian team won 15 medals, including 11 gold medals.

For Kostrikova, these results represent more than a medal count. They demonstrate that the coaching methodology, educational system and judging standards developed over many years can successfully support athletes at the highest level of international competition.

Breaking stereotypes about pole sport

The interview also addresses one of the most persistent misconceptions surrounding pole sport – the idea that it is primarily an entertainment or dance discipline.

Modern competitive pole sport requires a combination of strength, flexibility, coordination, endurance, body control, technical precision and artistry.

Athletes are evaluated on the difficulty and execution of their elements, technical control, transitions and artistic presentation.

What may look effortless to the audience is often the result of years of highly specialised physical and technical preparation.

The road towards the Olympic dream

Kostrikova believes that pole and aerial sports already possess many of the characteristics associated with an established international sport: a global federation, World Championships, national teams, international judges, unified rules and structured education for athletes, coaches and officials.

However, Olympic recognition is a long-term and complex process.

For the international pole and aerial sports community, the ambition remains clear: to continue developing the sport and eventually become part of the Olympic family.

Training and competing during wartime

For Ukrainian athletes and coaches, professional preparation has become even more challenging because of the war.

Air-raid alerts, power outages, constant travel and damaged sports facilities have disrupted normal training conditions.

Despite these circumstances, Ukrainian athletes continue to train, compete internationally and represent their country.

Their achievements demonstrate not only sporting ability, but also resilience, discipline and the strength of the coaching and sporting community supporting them.

A sport built by people

Perhaps the strongest message of the interview is that sporting success is never created by athletes alone.

Behind every performance are coaches, judges, educators, organisers, federations and years of professional development.

The evolution of pole and aerial sports demonstrates how a discipline can grow from a relatively young competitive movement into an increasingly structured international sport.

And while medals remain an important measure of sporting achievement, the long-term development of athletes, coaches and officials is what creates a sustainable future for the sport.

Source: Sport.ua, “Aerial Acrobatics: Prospects, Challenges and Dreams of the Olympic Games”, interview with Kateryna Kostrikova, 21 July 2026. Read the original interview on Sport.ua