Poll: Should jousting become an Olympic sport?

A new campaign by English Heritage aims to secure a place at the Olympics for one of the oldest equestrian sports in the world.

The charity, which hosts jousting events at its castles in England in the summer, claims modern jousters need the same levels of fitness, skill and strength as many of the competitors heading to this summer's Games in Rio de Janeiro.

It is a suggestion that intrigues a leading jouster from Shropshire – although Justin Pearson believes it could simply be a case of wishful thinking.

Justin, from Shrewsbury, performs jousting shows all over the country with Knights of the Damned.

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He said there needed to be a competitive grass roots jousting structure in place before any consideration could be given to taking it to the Olympics.

"It is an art form, without a doubt," he said.

"It's a skill. You actually ride the horses. You have something in your left hand, something in your right hand, your vision is limited.

"So yes, they could turn it into a sport. But I think it would come too early for these Olympics. In four years time? Maybe, if we can get a scene going at the lower levels first. There is no doubt it would make a good spectator sport.

"What we do in terms of jousting, we are kind of like the WWE to a certain extent.

"The shows that we put on are sports entertainment. You have got all the razzmatazz, the music, the big entrances."

Mr Pearson, 42, from Lee Brockhurst in Shrewsbury, has been jousting for a quarter of a century and performs around 60 shows a year with the Knights of the Damned team.

Would he get involved and compete if it did make the Olympics?

"Predominantly I am a showman," he said.

"I have been jousting for 25 years but I have never actually done it competitively.

"For us its more theatre than sport. It's choreographed. It's 'you hit me, I hit you, you hit me again, I hit you a couple more times and then you fall off the horse'.

"In terms of actually holding the equipment and doing it, yes I could. But I have never done it in a competitive environment and I'm not sure I would want to."

The sport involves competitors with 44lb (20kg) of armour holding a 12ft (3.7m) lance and racing towards their opponents at a gallop of up to 30mph, and English Heritage says it shares similarities with Olympic sports from fencing to equestrian eventing.

English Heritage's head of projects Lucy Hutchings said: "We want to see jousting take its rightful place at the Olympics table.

"It is one of the oldest equestrian sports in the world, with its roots in ancient Greece, and requires similar levels of athleticism and artistry as other official Olympic sports. Jousting is a wonderful dramatic spectacle, it is fantastic to watch knights in action against the backdrop of our castles, it would be even better to see it on the Olympics stage."

English Heritage's jousting expert Dominic Sewell added: "Jousting is a sport that requires a huge amount of skill and involves a daily training regime."