HONG KONG, China (Reuters) — The world’s largest annual multi-sport festival is coming to Asia, with the inaugural Arnold Classic Asia to be hosted in Hong Kong between 19-21 August 2016.
Founded by seven-time Mr. Olympia and former U.S. governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, its aim is to celebrate sports, fitness and health that bring professionals, amateurs and enthusiasts together.
“This is a historic event without any doubt, because we have been running the Arnold Classic and World Bodybuilding Championships and the promotion of health and fitness for the last 40 years. But we knew that it is extremely important that we got to organise the Arnold Classic Sports and Fitness Festival in all six continents and we have been very successful, but we knew that the ultimate success would come when we also have it here in Asia,” said Schwarzenegger at a news conference.
The debut festival will feature non-stop sports competitions and interactive workshops from over 20 sports, from mind games such as chess and Rubik’s Cube, to table tennis, skip rope, rugby, arm-wrestling, weight lifting, to martial arts such as tai chi, judo, krav maga and more.
Over 300 brands will also promote the latest trends in health and wellness.
One of the highlights of the weekend is the Professional Strongman competition on Saturday (August 20), which will see the world’s strongest men and women muscle it out for the title of Arnold Classic Asia Strongman Champion.
Asked how he thought China did at the Rio Olympics, Schwarzenegger said their performance was inspiring.
“I want to congratulate China and the Chinese athletes for their unbelievable, not only athletic performance, but also great entertainment, and inspiration to all of us. I mean I watched the Olympics as much as people come to come to watch the Arnold Classics Sports and Fitness Festival, to get inspiration, we need inspiration everyday. And when you see such great athletes perform, especially when you see the little girls go out and do gymnastics, they weigh maybe 70 pounds or something like that, and they make moves we only can dream of. That is really extraordinary. That is fantastic. So I think in all the sports they have excelled so congratulations to China,” he said.
Schwarzenegger says his own personal routine is to get up early and challenge his body and his mind every day.
