Arnold Sports Festival
The IFBB Arnold Sports Festival, also known as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival is an annual multi-sport event consisting of professional bodybuilding (Arnold Classic), strongman (Arnold Strongman Classic), fitness, figure and bikini weekend expo. It was established in 1989 and is named after Arnold Schwarzenegger. The main event 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[citation needed] 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]
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 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | Best Poser | Most Muscular | Fan's Choice Award | Most Entertaining Routine | Overall | Heavyweight | Lightweight | |||||||
1989 | Rich Gaspari | Jackie Paisley | ||||||||||||
1990 | Mike Ashley | Laura Creavalle | ||||||||||||
1991 | Shawn Ray | Tonya Knight | ||||||||||||
1992 | Vince Taylor | Anja Schreiner | ||||||||||||
1993 | Flex Wheeler | Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls | ||||||||||||
1994 | Kevin Levrone | Laura Creavalle | Carol Semple-Marzetta | |||||||||||
1995 | Mike Francois | Laura Creavalle | Carol Semple-Marzetta | |||||||||||
1996 | Kevin Levrone | Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls | Alexandra Béres | |||||||||||
1997 | Flex Wheeler | Yolanda Hughes-Heying | Carol Semple-Marzetta | |||||||||||
1998 | Flex Wheeler | Yolanda Hughes-Heying | Susie Curry | |||||||||||
1999 | Nasser El Sonbaty | Vickie Gates | Susie Curry | |||||||||||
2000 | Flex Wheeler | Vickie Gates | Vickie Gates | Brenda Raganot | Kelly Ryan | |||||||||
2001 | Ronnie Coleman | Vickie Gates | Vickie Gates | Dayana Cadeau | Jenny Worth | |||||||||
2002 | Jay Cutler | Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia | Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia | Valentina Chepiga | Susie Curry | |||||||||
2003 | Jay Cutler | Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia | Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia | Cathy LeFrançois | Susie Curry | Jenny Lynn | ||||||||
2004 | Jay Cutler | Iris Kyle | Iris Kyle | Dayana Cadeau | Adela Garcia-Friedmansky | Jenny Lynn | ||||||||
2005 | Dexter Jackson | Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia | Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia | Brenda Raganot | Jen Hendershott | Jenny Lynn | ||||||||
2006 | Dexter Jackson | Iris Kyle | Heavyweight category not held. | Lightweight category not held. | Adela Garcia-Friedmansky | Mary Lado | ||||||||
2007 | Victor Martinez | Iris Kyle | Kim Klein | Mary Lado | ||||||||||
2008 | Dexter Jackson | Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia | Kim Klein | Gina Aliotti | ||||||||||
2009 | Kai Greene | Kai Greene | Branch Warren | Iris Kyle | Jen Hendershott | Živilė Raudonienė | ||||||||
2010 | Kai Greene | Kai Greene | Branch Warren | Iris Kyle | Adela Garcia-Friedmansky | Nicole Wilkins-Lee | ||||||||
2011 | Branch Warren | Dennis Wolf | Branch Warren | Branch Warren | Iris Kyle | Adela Garcia-Friedmansky | Nicole Wilkins-Lee | Nicole Nagrani | ||||||
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 | |||||
2013 | Dexter Jackson | Most Muscular category not held. | Most Entertaining Routine category not held. | Iris Kyle | Tanji Johnson | Candice Keene | India Paulino | |||||||
2014 | Dennis Wolf | None | Oksana Grishina | Candice Keene | Ashley Kaltwasser | James Lewis | ||||||||
2015 | Dexter Jackson | Oksana Grishina | Camala Rodriguez-McClure | Ashley Kaltwasser | Juliana Malacarne | Sadik Hadzovic | Jose Ramond |
Arnold Classic International
Arnold Classic is also held as:
- Arnold Classic Australia in Australia[3][4]
- Arnold Classic Europe in Spain[3]
- Arnold Classic Brazil in Brazil[3]
- Arnold Classic Africa in South Africa[5][3]
- Arnold Classic Asia in Hong Kong.[5]
See also
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Arnold Classic
- Ms. International
- Arnold Strongman Classic
- Fitness International
- Figure International
References
- ^ Greater Columbus Convention Center. "2013 Arnold Cheerleading & Dance Championships". Arnoldsportsfestival.com. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- ^ "Ms. International Dropped from 2014 Arnold Sports Festival". Hard Body News. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Arnold Classic for 2016". The Mercury (South Africa). 20 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
- ^ "Breaking News: Arnold Australia Webcast Comes to Digital Muscle!". digitalmuscle.com. Digital Muscle. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
- ^ a b "Schwarzenegger sports fests now in Africa, Asia for 6 total". AP Online. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
External links
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- 1989 in female professional bodybuilding
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- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Cheerleading competitions
- Multi-sport events in the United States
- Professional bodybuilding competitions
- Female professional bodybuilding competitions
- Recurring sporting events established in 1989
- Sports in Columbus, Ohio
- Sports festivals in the United States