COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Year after year athletes make their way to Columbus for the Arnold Classic Sports Festival.
With excitement building and the 36th annual festival underway, rumors have speculated on Columbus’ future hosting the major event. Event organizers said it’s not going anywhere.
“There’s a lot of people around the world who know Columbus because of the Arnold Classic and the Arnold Sports Festival,” said event director Brent LaLonde.
More than 20,000 athletes are competing in this year’s event. These athletes travel to many places for competitions. Some said when they first hear the Arnold — the largest sports festival in the world — is in Columbus, they wonder why.
“I was like, oh, Columbus, Ohio. That’s kind of boring, you know,” said Tristan Killian, a member of the University of Oregon Weightlifting Team.
But athletes like Killian said once they got to the city and learned the history their feelings changed.
“I thought it was going to be a lot smaller with, like, literally nothing to do. And then coming here, I’m just like, it’s a city. It’s pretty big,” said Karen Marumoto, another member of the University of Oregon weightlifting team.
The Arnold is in Columbus because of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s friendship with former Worthington mayor and co-founder Jim Lorimer. The event has become a staple in the community and brings with it an economic boom.
“It’s a big impact, obviously, not only in Downtown Columbus with the hotels and the restaurants and the taxicabs,” LaLonde said.
There is always the question of whether the Arnold will stay in Columbus. The organizers have officially signed the contract for 2025. As for beyond that, there’s no contract yet. But LaLonde said they are not going anywhere. He said Columbus is home and that’s how Arnold wants it.
“We’ve been here for 36 years. We’ll be here next year,” LaLonde said. “There’s not an event of our size or scope that’s been this dedicated to the city for so long. And we look forward to being here in 2025.”
The expo kicks off Friday. LaLonde said tickets for the 2025 event go on sale in June.