The IFBB Pro Arnold Sports Festival, also regarded as the Arnold Schwarzenegger sports festival, is a multi-sport series of events based on bodybuilding. It is the perfect culmination of professional bodybuilding, known as the Arnold Strongman Classic, fitness, figure, and bikini weekend expo. It was first staged in 1989 and has been held at the end of February every year since then.
The Arnold Sports Festival is named after its founder, who is also claimed to be one of the best Bodybuilders in history, Arnold Schwarzenegger. After Joe Weider’s Mr. Olympia, the Arnold’s Sports Festival is the second most prestigious event in the bodybuilding world. Here’s all you need to know about the show!
The evolution of the Arnold Sports Festival
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The Arnold Sports Festival has come a long way since its debut in 1989. The joint venture between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Lorimer has now turned into an elite multi-sport competition expo. It is not only famous among fitness fans but has also turned around the face of the industry.
For decades now, the Arnold Sports Festival has openly welcomed everything related to fitness, be it baton twirling to slap fighting. What began as a singular bodybuilding show, is now a multi-day sporting phenomenon. Every year, the Arnold Sports Festival features about 20,000 athletes competing in 60 events. The participation ranges to eighty different countries.
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Why is the Arnold Sports Festival held in Ohio?
Bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger won the 1970 Pro Mr. World at the Veteran’s Memorial in Columbus, Ohio. He defeated Sergio Olivia for the first time and became friends with the promoter of the show – Jim Lorimer. After his retirement, he co-promoted pro contests in his hometown.
Till 2014, the Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium was one of the most classic venues for professional Bodybuilding. Later on, in 2015, it was demolished and then the festival shifted to the Battelle Grand Ballroom at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
What are the champions rewarded with?
The Arnold Sports Festival offers a series of large prizes, which is one of the primary reasons behind its huge success. The first prize in the bodybuilding contest is a whopping $130000 check, with a Hummer vehicle along with an Audemars Piguet watch. There has also been an igniting competition between the Arnold Sports Festival and Mr. Olympia because the latter offers title pre-dates and also has comparatively higher prize money.
Just like the Olympia, the Arnold Sports Festival is also hotly contested. It comes with one or two competitions, which helps in separating the winners of the show.
Read More: Bodybuilding Legend Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Diet and Workout Routine
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The International Growth of Arnold Sports Festival
Despite the ASF receiver’s unwelcome attention at times, it continued to grow as an extremely successful event in the bodybuilding sphere. In 2006, it garnered 120,000 fans for 30 events. While it began just in the context of bodybuilding, by the mid-2000s, it became an all-sporting event.
It was hosted by a lot of clubs with their sponsors and as it continued to expand like that, it loved being in the United States. In 2011, the Arnold Classic Europe was created in Spain.
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After two years, it was hosted for the first time in South America, followed by Arnold Classic Australia held for the first time in 2014. The Arnold Classic then expanded to places like Africa, and Asia and well it became unstoppable.
The growth of the Arnold Sports Festival has been nothing short of extraordinary. It is no longer just a Bodybuilding contest but is rather a sporting mega-event. It still goes on to help promote all kinds of sports, and that is what makes it stand out among all the other competitions. What are your thoughts on the Arnold Sports Festival? Let us know in the comments section below!
