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Pole at The Arnold!!!
The Arnold Sports Festival takes place in Columbus, Ohio every year and is named after The Govenator, himself. It is now the largest sporting event in the world, even out sizing the Olympics. This year it is expanding to Brazil where they are holding a pole competition at the inagural event. For the last several years, Infinity Aerial of Columbus has been talking to the organizers of the event but has routinely been turned away. This year is different! They have decided to allow a showcase of pole to gauge the response and if all goes well Pole Dance will be added to the lists of sports competitions that are held yearly.
I am not sure if you all can understand the impact of this. The LARGEST sporting event in the world is considering recognizing Pole as a SPORT.
I have been a giddy fool all day.
A quote from my local newspaper:
"It" is the Arnold Sports Festival, a four-day showcase of athleticism that gets under way later this month in Columbus. And yes, it's the largest multisport event not just in the nation, but also in the world.
During those four days, 18,000 athletes will compete in 46 sporting events of all kinds. That compares with 10,000 athletes who participated in 36 events in the London Olympics last summer. Twelve of those Olympic sports will be among the many taking place at "the Arnold," as folks in Columbus have come to refer to the annual event that brings 175,000 visitors from across the globe to central Ohio."
Here is a link to information about the festival itself. Fawnia herself has been a spokesmodel at this even for Bodybuilding.com. http://www.arnoldsportsfestival.com/
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17 Replies
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Truly an incredible achievement for pole!
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How is this bigger than the Olympics and I've never heard of it?
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Sassypants, because it is not televised, because it is in Ohio and because it is affordable.
It started out as a bodybuilding competition and was strictly that for years. Then it started expanding to what it is now. The EXPO itself is huge. Here is the story that ran in my local paper. This alone will give you possibily a different perspective about Arnold Schwarzenegger: http://www.cleveland.com/travel/index.ssf/2013/02/schwarzeneggers_arnold_sports.html
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Cool! I like that they include sort of rag-tag, underappreciated sports.
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I was really surprised that they did not have skateboarding this year. In the last few years they have.
It really is a fun weekend and drops a TON of money into Ohio. They are expecting over $42 million to be spent that weekend from visitors.
This is also where I first discovered Liquid Grip and KT Tape.
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When is it this year? Ohio is not too far.
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It is always the first weekend in March, so it starts 2/28 and goes through 3/3.
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Wow, that is big news! Coming from the Dancesport (ballroom) world, the Arnie has always treated us well, and a lot of us competitors put this one on our calendars. I hope they do the same for the pole world. Thanks for sharing this!
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So as I’m reading this the pole comp will be in brasil?? Not ohio??
This makes me happy and sad… I would love to go and support but I can’t get to brasil 🙁
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Brasil is holding a comp during their first Arnold. This year I believe is the first time that The Arnold is expanding outside of the US. There is also an event that will be held in Europe that is in its second year (though no pole that I am aware of…yet).
When this was announced (Brasil) a few of us had posted on the Columbus Arnold that they should consider it for Ohio. They have allowed pole to be showcased at the event in Ohio this year and if there is good response then it will become a featured event next year.
As a side note, I have written to Robert Kennedy Publishing in the past (Oxygen Magazine) stating they should do an article on pole, as they have hit pretty much every other form of exercise in their magazine. They have a HUGE booth set up so I am hoping Tosca or her daughter find their way over to the pole at some point in time over the weekend! I may have to write them again and just invite them to take a whirl!
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Ooh awesome!! Thanks for the clarification!!
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Awe thanks for posting this and I will keep everyone updated on when we go on and how it goes. I've been fighting for this for a few years so I'm still a little in shock that they finally let me do this!!! I'll be bringing a ridiculous amount of literature on pole with me to get out to people too so hopefully this will be a huge education.
Oh and as for why skate boarding is not there this that is actually partly due to the issue with pole not be allowed in in the past few years. Myself and the head of the skateboarding committee and organizer of the skateboarding exhibition (and very dear friend) created the initial pole committee and made a proposal a worked for months a few years ago with the Arnold to get pole in. Well after months of planning they decided they didn't wanna do it anymore and pulled us out. My friend was very upset with how we were turned away because he believed in me and pole as a community and with that and some other political issues he completely pulled skateboarding out. It makes this a little bittersweet that they finally listened to us but Tedd and the skateboarders wont be there since they too were really pulling for us!
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http://arnoldsportsfestival.com/pole-fitness/
fyi….guess it was well received!
I was just browsing old discussions and decided to look into this.
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Yes it was. Sadly those that worked extremely hard to make it happen have been pushed to the side. Also the male pole dancer who was up there with us impressed the hell out of the committee however the group that has taken over has opted not to allow men to compete, even though the qualifying comps did.
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