Jelena Ostapenko brings the fire

Jelana Ostapenko is a dancer.

Her style of choice? Ballroom.

Competitive ballroom  dancing is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Dancers come from every part of the globe, and in much of Africa, South American and Brazil, champion dancers are revered as idol gods.

A top flight dancer requires the athleticism of an olympic hurdler, the flexibility of an youthful yoga master, the quick footwork of a fencer, and the stamina of a serial marathon runner. Above all a ballroom champion must be able to understand how to present their body perfectly to the ever watchful judges. 

 No matter how intricate the dance or awkward the leg transition,  they must  always beperfectly poised,  A dancer must dig into their hearts and cast their most private turbulent emotions before the audience, and make a tangible emotional connection  that can cause even the most hardened judge to forgive a minor error that could possibly be the difference between a gold or silver medal.

A dancer, when striding onto a dance floor filled with other equally gifted, equally well-trained rivals, may be able to walk across that floor,r assume their preparatory positions with their parters, and  be able to immediately intimidate their rivals with the merest eye-contact. When the music begins and they move about the floor at great speed they cannot allow any accidental physical contact to put them off, and they cannot allow a slight injury to slow them down. They are prepared to do whatever it takes to win, they must unerringly sense even any momentary weakness within a rival and be prepared to take away their glory without any hesitation. 

Ballroom dancers, despite the preponderance of colourful, sparkling sequins and fake organs perm tans, rank amongst the deadliest predators within the almost endless variety of world sport. 

Sugar Ray Robinson, perhaps the greatest boxer of all time, was an outstanding tap dancer who excelled at ballroom.  Donald Bradman, unarguably the greatest cricketer of all time, was also a top flight ballroom dancer. Bruce Lee, cinema's finest performance martial artist,  won many ballroom competitions i in Hing Kong. 

All of these men combined nimble footwork with a natural physical grace under pressure, and they were all able to forge a deep enduring relationship with a crowd throughout their careers.

Ostapenko's rising social media following would appear to indicate she has much in common with these great champions.