COLUMBUS, Ohio — The trade show portion of Columbus's 2020 Arnold Classic Sports and Fitness Festival has been postponed, amid concerns over testing for the COVID-19 coronavirus, while bodybuilding and strongman competitions will still take place.
The event, created by world-renowned body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger, was set to take place Thursday through Sunday, with over 250,000 expected to attend.
"This is a very sad day for me today," Schwarzenegger said, in a video posted to Instagram on Tuesday announcing the delay.
Speaking of concerns of public officials, including health officials with the Centers for Disease Control, Governor Mike DeWine and Mayor of Columbus Andrew Ginther, Schwarzenegger said:
"I think it was the right thing to do because we want to keep people safe, we want to keep people healthy, and we are promoting the health and fitness at this convention. We are the biggest and the best in the world, but making money is less important than being healthy, promoting health and fitness."
He added: "We still will have the Arnold Classic Wold Bodybuilding Championship, and the Strongman competition, but the rest of it is all canceled, or I should say postponed, because we will have it later on this year."
The convention portion was pushed back because federal health officials couldn't get coronavirus test kits to Ohio quickly enough, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
One test sent to the city was faulty, and to properly test for possible cases, test kits would have had to be sent to Atlanta, delaying results for days. When Columbus health officials asked to do their own testing on people possibly infected, state officials denied that request.
The strongman and bodybuilding competitions will take place without an audience, for the most part.
The Ohio Department of Health issued an order on Thursday barring general spectators at the Arnold Sports Festival, except for eight events on Friday and Saturday nights.
As of this time, spectators will be able to attend the following events on the following days, per this excerpt of a statement from Governor Mike DeWine's office:
The Arnold Sports and Fitness Expo is prohibited from allowing the public to attend events as part of the Arnold Sports and Fitness Expo scheduled for March 5-8, 2020 at the following venues:
- Greater Columbus Convention Center (400 N. High St., Columbus, Ohio 43215)
- Ohio Expo Center (717 E. 17th, Columbus, Ohio 43211)
- Hyatt Regency Columbus (350 N. High St., Columbus, Ohio 43215)
The Arnold Sports and Fitness Expo may allow the parents or guardians of any minor competing in an event at the Arnold Sports and Fitness Expo to attend the event(s) in which their child(ren) are participating. The parents or guardians must have appropriate identification to prove they are the parent or guardian of a minor participating in the Arnold Sports and Fitness Expo.
On Friday March 6, 2020 the Arnold Sports and Fitness Expo is permitted to admit spectators to the following four events scheduled for 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the Battelle Grand at the Columbus Convention Center:
- Fitness International—Finals
- Figure International—Finals
- Women's Physique—Finals
- Classic Physique—Finals
On Saturday March 7, 2020, the Arnold Sports and Fitness Expo is permitted to admit spectators to the following four events scheduled for 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. in the Battelle Grand at the Columbus Convention Center:
- Men's Physique—Finals
- Arnold Classic—Finals
- Arnold Strongman Classic
- Bikini International—Finals
While Ohio has no confirmed cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists over 75 countries with confirmed cases of COVID-19. CDC reports over 93,000 diagnosed cases worldwide with 3,100 deaths reported worldwide. The CDC has announced 80 confirmed and presumptive positive cases, with nine deaths reported from the disease.
Some areas of the United States are experiencing "community spread" of the virus that causes COVID-19. Community spread means people have been infected with the virus in an area, including some who are not sure how or where they became infected.