COLUMBUS, Ohio – Don’t be surprised if you run into some very fit and muscular men, woman and children around Columbus this weekend. There will be about 18,000 of them in town for the Arnold Sports Festival, the largest multi-sport event in the nation.
The 2015 Arnold Sports Festival is March 5-8
Thousands of participants from 80 nations and 175,000 spectators will take in bodybuilding, fitness, and physique contests; fencing, gymnastics, and dozens of other events at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, the Ohio Expo Center, Columbus Hollywood Casino, Hilton Columbus Downtown, Hyatt Regency Columbus, LC Pavilion, Nationwide Arena, New Albany High School and Stars Indoor Sports.
The event has been forced to sprawl across the city due to the demolition of its former home, Veterans Memorial downtown.
“We started in the 1970s to have this fitness crusade. Our vision and our goal paid off to train the body and train the mind. We can all be very proud that we’re involved with something that improves lives,” said Arnold Schwarzenegger, movie star and former California governor who co-founded the event with Jim Lorimer of Classic Productions.
The event has grown to encompass 50 sports, more than 900 exhibit booths, 400 medical professionals who are donating their time, and 1,700 volunteers, Lorimer said.
New events in 2015 include IFBB Pro Arnold Classic Physique, IFBB Pro Physique International, America’s Next Great Trainer, chess, disc golf, equestrian, MAS Wrestling, Model Search, pickleball, POWER X, rowing, soccer and WWE Experience.
Some of the highlights:
The Arnold Fitness EXPO (Convention Center Exhibit Hall D, 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday ): A showcase of more than 900 booths of sports equipment, apparel, nutritional products and non-stop stage entertainment and competitions EXPO tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Children 10 and under are admitted free. Shuttles will transfer guests between the Center and Ohio Expo Center free of charge.
Additional events (Convention Center, Hyatt regency): Amateur boxing, America’s Next Great Trainer, arm wrestling, amateur strongman, model search, Arnold Strongman Classic, Art at the Arnold, Dance Fitness & More, fencing, gymnastics, International Sports Hall of Fame, jump rope, Martial Arts Festival, MAS Wrestling, pole fitness, indoor rowing, tennis, Ultimate Teen Challenge, USA Powerlifting, weightlifting, WWE Experience and YouthDanceSport.
The 5K Pump and Run and 5K Run will snake along downtown and Short North streets on Sunday.
The new Arnold Kids Fitness EXPO (Ohio Expo Center Bricker Bldg.. 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday): Archery, cheerleading & dance, CrossFit Endeavor, disc golf, equestrian, pickleball, POWER X, table tennis and XPC Powerlifting will be at the. The Arnold Kids Fitness EXPO features demonstrations, clinics, stage entertainment, Arnold’s Quest For Talent!