Sport and the aesthetic

This paper discusses some perspectives as to whether the status of a form of art can claimed for sporting activities. I would like to question the assumptions contained within this point of view, by examining the idea of sporting activities being open to, and objects of, aesthetic appraisal; but also to go further and question the idea of sporting activities ever achieving the status of an art form. I would like to hypothesise that while a sporting activity can be an object of aesthetic appraisal, sports cannot attain the status of an art form.