Arnold Sports Festival

Logo of the Arnold Sports Festival

The IFBB Arnold Sports Festival, also known as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival, (previously known as the Arnold Classic) is an annual multi-sport event of men's professional bodybuilding, as well as separate strongman, physique, fitness, figure, and bikini weekend expo. It was established in 1989 and is named after Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is held annually around late February or early March in Columbus, Ohio, United States by the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness (IFBB). It is the second most prestigious event in professional men's bodybuilding, physique, figure, and bikini, as well as formerly the second most prestigious event in professional female bodybuilding.

History

A lucrative sports competition, the ASF offers a number of large prizes. Most notably, first prize in bodybuilding consists of a $130,000 check, a Hummer vehicle, and an Audemars Piguet watch. Since the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding title pre-dates and offers higher prize money than the ASF, a rivalry in prestige and popularity has sprung up. The ASF is always hotly contested, often with one or two competition points separating the winners.

All-star cheerleading competitions span a two-day period (usually all day Saturday, and to midday Sunday). More than 4,000 competitors entered the cheerleading event in 2014. Each team (of 15-30 cheerleaders) prepares to perform a two and one-half minute routine. After the teams' routines are complete, they are scored by a panel of judges, each judge being an expert on one area of cheerleading (jumps, tumbling, stunting, etc.). Once scoring is complete, every team entered in the competition is called to the mat for awards, during which each team has a chance of winning multiple times. The ASF's awards consist of the following: National Champion jackets, trophies for every team, custom medals, limited edition patches and Grand Champion banners, and possible partial or full paid bid to Cheerleading World contests.^[1]

On June 7, 2013, the ASF's event promoter, Jim Lorimer, announced that from 2014 on, the ASF's "212" (a professional, men’s bodybuilding division) would permanently replace the Ms. International women’s bodybuilding competition. Lorimer, in a statement, said “The Arnold Sports Festival was proud to support women’s bodybuilding through the Ms. International for the past quarter century, but in keeping with demands of our fans, the time has come to introduce the Arnold Classic 212 beginning in 2014. We are excited to create a professional competitive platform for some of the IFBB Pro League’s most popular competitors.”^[2]

Arnold Classic Australia

In 2015 and 2016 there will be an Arnold Classic Australia and Arnold Strongman Australia.^[3][4]

Champions

Year	Arnold Classic					Ms. International			Fitness International	Figure International	Bikini International Pro	Arnold Classic 212	Arnold Classic Women's Physique	Arnold Classic Men's Physique	Venue
	Overall	Best Poser	Most Muscular	Fan's Choice Award	Most Entertaining Routine	Overall	Heavyweight	Lightweight
1989	Rich Gaspari					Jackie Paisley									Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
1990	Mike Ashley					Laura Creavalle									Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
1991	Shawn Ray					Tonya Knight									Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
1992	Vince Taylor					Anja Schreiner									Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
1993	Flex Wheeler					Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls									Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
1994	Kevin Levrone					Laura Creavalle			Carol Semple-Marzetta						Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
1995	Mike Francois					Laura Creavalle			Carol Semple-Marzetta						Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
1996	Kevin Levrone					Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls			Alexandra Béres						Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
1997	Flex Wheeler					Yolanda Hughes-Heying			Carol Semple-Marzetta						Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
1998	Flex Wheeler					Yolanda Hughes-Heying			Susie Curry						Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
1999	Nasser El Sonbaty					Vickie Gates			Susie Curry						Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2000	Flex Wheeler					Vickie Gates	Vickie Gates	Brenda Raganot	Kelly Ryan						Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2001	Ronnie Coleman					Vickie Gates	Vickie Gates	Dayana Cadeau	Jenny Worth						Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2002	Jay Cutler					Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	Valentina Chepiga	Susie Curry						Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2003	Jay Cutler					Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	Cathy LeFrançois	Susie Curry	Jenny Lynn					Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2004	Jay Cutler					Iris Kyle	Iris Kyle	Dayana Cadeau	Adela Garcia-Friedmansky	Jenny Lynn					Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2005	Dexter Jackson					Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	Brenda Raganot	Jen Hendershott	Jenny Lynn					Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2006	Dexter Jackson					Iris Kyle	Heavyweight category not held.	Lightweight category not held.	Adela Garcia-Friedmansky	Mary Lado					Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2007	Victor Martinez					Iris Kyle			Kim Klein	Mary Lado					Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2008	Dexter Jackson					Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia			Kim Klein	Gina Aliotti					Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2009	Kai Greene	Kai Greene	Branch Warren			Iris Kyle			Jen Hendershott	Živilė Raudonienė					Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2010	Kai Greene	Kai Greene	Branch Warren			Iris Kyle			Adela Garcia-Friedmansky	Nicole Wilkins-Lee					Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2011	Branch Warren	Dennis Wolf	Branch Warren	Branch Warren		Iris Kyle			Adela Garcia-Friedmansky	Nicole Wilkins-Lee	Nicole Nagrani				Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2012	Branch Warren	Best Poser category not held.	Branch Warren	Fan's Choice Award category not held.	Branch Warren	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia			Adela Garcia-Friedmansky	Nicole Wilkins-Lee	Sonia Gonzales				Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2013	Dexter Jackson		Most Muscular category not held.		Most Entertaining Routine category not held.	Iris Kyle			Tanji Johnson	Candice Keene	India Paulino				Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2014	Dennis Wolf					None			Oksana Grishina	Candice Keene	Ashley Kaltwasser	James Lewis			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio
2015	Dexter Jackson								Oksana Grishina	Camala Rodriguez-McClure	Ashley Kaltwasser	Juliana Malacarne	Sadik Hadzovic	Jose Ramond	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio

See also

• Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Arnold Classic
• Ms. International
• Arnold Strongman Classic
• Fitness International
• Figure International

References

1. Greater Columbus Convention Center. "2013 Arnold Cheerleading & Dance Championships". Arnoldsportsfestival.com. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
2. "Ms. International Dropped from 2014 Arnold Sports Festival". Hard Body News. June 7, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
3. "Arnold Classic Australia". Arnold Classic Australia. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
4. http://arnoldstrongman.com.au/

External links

• Official website
• Arnold Classic Europe official website