2009 Arnold Blog

ASF Heads to Qatar for IFBB World Amateur Championships, International Congress

Representatives of the Arnold Sports Festival will travel to Doha, Qatar next week to promote the IFBB Arnold Amateur Bodybuilding Championships and related Arnold Sports Festival events. Weekend co-producer Jim Lorimer and other staff members will attend the International Federation of Bodybuilding Men’s World Amateur Bodybuilding Championships and International Congress, Nov. 1-5.

Jim Lorimer and Bob Lorimer, promoter of the Arnold Amateur Bodybuilding Championships, attended the same event in 2008 and recruited more than 40 nations to send competitors to the Arnold Sports Festival. More than 60 countries are expected to participate in 2010. [ Read More ]

The Arnold Sports Festival will host skateboarding for the first time when the Cow Town Showdown and related activities are held at Veterans Memorial on Saturday, March 6 and Sunday, March 7.

The skateboarding contest will feature exhibitions by top professional; a Top of the Shops super contest among skateboarders from the top skateboarding shops in the U.S.; beginner and advanced amateur competitions; and a trade show featuring the top brands, trends and products in the industry.

"We are excited to finally add skateboarding to the Arnold Sports Festival," said Jim Lorimer, co-producer of the event. "Skateboarding is a tremendously popular activity, and we strongly believe it will be a big success at our Weekend."

The Cow Town Showdown Means Skateboarding at the Arnold Sports Festival. Skateboarding activities will be held at 9 a.m. each day indoors at Veterans Memorial.

"The Cow Town Showdown will not only feature many top professionals, but future pros from all over the Midwest will be on hand to showcase their talents," event co-chair Tedd Cookerly. "And, in future years, we think this will grow into one of the top skateboarding competitions in the country."

For more information, contact event chairs Wally Carl at 614-561-5437 and Tedd Cookerly at 614-678-4615 or at cowtowncontest@gmail.com

Randy Couture was welcomed by an oversize banner featuring his likeness as an athlete and an actor. Randy Couture, who began bow-hunting in his native state of Washington at the age of ten, posed with the Meigs High School Team while holding their Team Spirit Award.

The Team Spirit Award was presented for the team’s overall enthusiasm throughout the competition. Couture congratulated and recognized many of the individual archers.

[ Read More ]

Nine deserving scholarship winners from across the United States were identified from the ranks of more than 17,000 athletic participants at the 2009 Arnold Sports Festival.

The Arnold Sports Festival namesake, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, joined a Columbus Rotarian for nearly each of the $2,000 scholarship presentations.

Steve Sundre, Columbus Rotary Scholarship Committee Chair, said, “Columbus Rotary is delighted to partner once again with the Arnold Sports Festival in recognizing academic and athletic excellence. These young people further the Rotary “Service Above Self” commitment, serve as role models for their peers, and are deserving of recognition. We are pleased to join with the Arnold Sports Festival to highlight their accomplishments and invest in their futures.”

Scott Brown, Executive Director of Columbus Rotary added, “The Arnold Sports Festival brings attendees from all over the world to Columbus, Ohio. As a worldwide service organization, it is natural that Columbus Rotary welcomes these visitors to our community. We are also pleased to be able to recognize scholar athletes for their accomplishments both physically and educationally through our scholarship awards.”

[ Read About the Winners ]

This is what happens when a behind the scenes interviews go bad.

Just watch how the interviewer becomes the interviewee.

So to lay it out for you Isaac Hinds is supposed to be getting interviewed by Tiffany Forni, but when the camera turns on and Tiffany gets cold feet Isaac has to pull (try to pull, i guess) this one out of he water. Just watch it already.

JPodz and Craig sang this often in some of the most random places around the Arnold Classic.

You all should challenge them to a duet in an upcoming Justin.tv chat…

Two classic quotes from Craig Roberts:

‘Sweep the leg’ (1:42)

and

‘Get him a body bag’ (3:57)

Stop by the BodyBuilding.com Booth Sunday and catch Frank or Ben who will be visiting the booth, or check them out at the Nutrabolics booth.

Nutrabolics strives to combine cutting edge clinical research with years of experience in the health and fitness field to provide an unparalleled range of performance enhancing products for the consumer who’s commitment in the gym could only be rewarded by results.

Nutrabolics has been making waves, first signing MMA Fighter Frank Mir and just recently signing IFBB Pro Ben “Show Stopper” White.

View all Nutrabolics Products here.

The 2009 4th Annual Arnold Boxing Invitational Championships will showcase beginner to elite level USA Amateur boxers in a USA Boxing sanctioned competition. We have added another RING and ready to start the competition.

Friday March 6th, 3:00 - 6:00, Former World Heayweight Champion of the World James Buster Douglas will be appearing to welcome youth amateur boxers and to introduce USA Boxing team member Vanessa Jackson.

More info click here.

Fencers ranging in age from 6-25 years of age gathered recently at Easton Towne Center in Columbus, Ohio to demonstrate their skills to hundreds of on lookers.

They will be competing in the Regional Youth Circuit fencing competition Saturday and Sunday March 7-8 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center as part of the Arnold Sports Festival. United States Olympic Medalists Mariel Zagunis and Sada Jacobson will be presenting the awards.

The award was adopted by the Arnold Martial Arts Festival in 2007 in tribute to Chris Canning, an outstanding martial artist, who died an accidental death at the age of 15. The recipient will receive the honor in a special presentation held on the second day of competition. The award is a beautiful black piano finished plaque with the above proclamation inscribed in gold letters and personally presented to the recipient by martial arts legend and event chair, Master Tokey Hill.

Each year the award goes to the martial artist who demonstrates the following attributes during the competition:

    * Competes with honor and respect for their opponents
    * Demonstrates excellence in martial arts skill and technique
    * Conducts themselves in the manner of a world class competitor
    * Constantly exhibiting humility
    * Always seeking to raise the level of their performance without sacrificing their humanity in the process.

“For competing with honor and respect for the opponent, demonstrating excellence in martial arts techniques while showing a competitive spirit and a resolve to prevail regardless of the challenge. In so doing, you have brought honor and distinction to the martial arts, to your instructor, school, and the Arnold Martial Arts Festival. Given to the martial artist that exhibited confidence but maintained a humble demeanor, and who conducted themselves in an exemplary manner as an elite athlete and world class martial arts competitor."

This honor given on March 7, 2009, by
Tokey Hill, World Champion 2009 Arnold Sports Festival Event Chairman;
K. Huunjin Cullen, 10th Dan Selection Committee Chairman; and
Arthur Canning, Chris Canning Foundation President.

Canning Award Application Form

More info

I was fortunate enough to have an interview with the defending Figure International Champion Gina Aliotti. Will she repeat as champion? We’ll just have to wait until March 6 to find out.

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