The event draws in more than 20,000 athletes and 100,000 fans and spectators throughout the four-day event.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Division of Police has a number of safety measures in place this weekend in preparation for the Arnold Sports Festival as well as other events going on throughout the city.
For the Arnold, Commander Justin Coleman said they’re rolling out new and different measures this year that have not been in place before.
Some of the additional safety measures include barriers and meridians surrounding the Convention Center as well as extra staff on hand to monitor the crowds. The event draws in more than 20,000 athletes and 100,000 fans and spectators throughout the four-day event.
“We’re gonna have a large influx of visitors that are utilizing our short-term leases and our hotels so that plan incorporates a robust plan for not just the convention center platform of just this few square blocks, but it spreads it out throughout the city,” Coleman said.
This weekend is a chance for fans to watch and even meet their favorite fitness influencers.
“I’m actually looking forward to seeing Jay Cutler and Ronnie Coleman,” Michael Perkins, a spectator, said.
“They literally push you to want to be the best version that you could ever be,” Sean Hemry, another spectator, said.
Above all, this weekend is a chance for the fitness world to celebrate the wins and build camaraderie along the way.
“This is like a melting pot of people that are like me. I haven’t met this guy until today, and it’s like, the fact that I can just come up and we can just hold a conversation for 20 minutes and it’s like dude we’ve been best friends since we were three years old or something, you know,” Hemry said.
“We both competed in the Young LA bench press competition and there’s a lot of competition up there, I’m not gonna lie. I came in second place and I was bench pressing against him,” Jay Nimmons, another spectator said.
Newfound friendships that are built from a love of fitness.
“I feel like that’s just gym culture in general. A lot of times you meet a lot of new people and then just have those interactions and you guys just become friends from there,” Nimmons said.