The Arnold Sports Festival, one of the country's biggest such festivals, is returning to Ohio's capital city next week, two years after becoming one of the nation's earliest and most prominent economic victims of the pandemic.
Founded in 1989 as a bodybuilding competition by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the annual festival has since grown into a giant affair that includes weightlifting, running races, martial arts, table tennis and jump roping, among many other sports. Each year, it draws tens of thousands of participants and spectators to Columbus with an economic impact of more than $50 million.
