WATCH: Months of sacrifice pay off for world-champion aerialists

In their bid to bring it home, Cheree Simpson and Alana Jackson had to sacrifice personal relationships and miss a lot of family functions.

But in the end, it was all worth it.

The duo were crowned the artistic aerial hoop doubles 18+ champions at the World Pole and Aerial Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, last month.

Cheree is a resident of Brentwood Park and Alana lives in Glen Marais, Kempton Park.

“It was awesome to see the standard,” Alana said.

Sporting their green and gold jackets the pair met with the Benoni City Times at a fast food joint in Northmead.

Still surreal that they won on their first attempt, they take pride in that all their hard work, dedication and sacrifices paid off.

They competed ranked second from last. Despite the underdog tag hanging on their necks, they rolled up their sleeves and put in a performance that proved their doubters wrong.

“We underestimated ourselves in this whole experience. We went there and realised we competed against people much younger than us. We still made it through and got to the top. It was exciting for us,” Cheree said.

They were scored 62.4 by the judges and it was enough to land them the world title. This was due to their move away from the conservative to a routine that evoked emotions.

“We never thought we were going to win this. It was about getting the experience and learning from the other competitors,” said Alana.

Their performance drew applause from the crowd.

What stood out in their routine was the connection, Alana stated.

“It’s something we had to work on more after the nationals. We also had help from people who said we needed to connect more.

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“We took that to heart. Having that connection and keeping an eye on each other the whole time, made the impact of the routine better.”

This connection and the psychological message in their story triggered so many emotions that it meant their plan to connect with the audience worked.

“The story was about two jellyfish friends that had an unbelievable bond. They were always there for each other, but one friend passed away at the end.

“The message was that we should appreciate what is around and allow ourselves to be vulnerable to those things because they aren’t going to be around forever,” said Cheree.

Although there’s still a lot of stigma around pole sport, they hope this win will make South Africans realise that this is a sport in which anyone of any gender and age can partake.

Asked if they will travel to Sweden to defend their title next year, they said there’s still lots to think about because of the physical strain the training took on their bodies this year.

“As much an amazing achievement this was, it took a lot of our energy. We’ve spoken about taking a year to train and improve or going for another. There’s nothing set in stone.”

For now, the world champions are going to continue teaching while also making up for lost time with family and friends.

“If there are any shows out there looking for two world champion aerialists, we are available,” Cheree concluded.

Also Read: Local pole dancer finishes second in World Championships