ANDREW OYE'S IFBB PRO LEGENDS REPORT: MR. OLYMPIA + FORMER GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER COLLECTS HONORS: STATUE REDEDICATION, PORTRAIT UNVEILING, TOURISM AMBASSADOR
The Item: Legends Update, Career Updates, Special Appearances, Special Honors, Andrew Oye's IFBB Pro Athletes Roundup
The Scoop: Just Reported: During recent weeks, legendary 7-time Mr. Olympia, Hollywood movie actor, entrepreneur and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has amassed several honors that reflect his reach across many sectors from business to sports to entertainment to politics. On Monday (October 6), Schwarzenegger attended the Rededication Ceremony for the 8-foot, 600-pound bronze statue carved in his likeness, immortalizing the champion bodybuilder in a powerful physique pose. The event at the Greater Columbus Convention Center was attended by Ohio's governor and the mayor of Columbus, Ohio, which has been the home of the Arnold Sports Festival's IFBB Pro Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic Bodybuilding Championships since the inception of the contest in 1989. The statue was relocated from Veterans Memorial Complex (which had staged Schwarzenegger's contests and was scheduled for demolition) to the convention center.
The "So What?": As reported in "Andrew Oye's Pro-Muscle Report," the Ohio monument, bestowed by the International Sports Hall of Fame (ISHOF) in 2012, is a replica of another statue that stands at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Museum -- his converted childhood home -- which opened in 2011 in Thal, Austria. This achievement is one of many chronicled in the MUSCLE INK Magazine feature "The Business of Brawn: Profile of the Muscular Mogul," which highlights the diversified reach of ron-built businessman Arnold Schwarzenegger. He began competitive bodybuilding in 1965 and retired in 1980. The multi-hyphenate heavyweight, who was catapulted onto fame's international stage via the venerable bodybuilding documentary "Pumping Iron" and eventually authored the autobiography "Total Recall," has declared, "Personal success is the result of determination, hard work and stubbornness."
A month prior (September 8), Schwarzenegger witnessed the unveiling of his official gubernatorial portrait at a ceremony in the Rotunda of the State Capitol Building in Sacramento, California. The current California governor was on hand to salute his predecessor who had governed from November 17, 2003 - January 3, 2011. A post-event photo caption on the social media site of the California Government Operations Agency stated, "Today we celebrate not one man, but all men and women who have served California." Prior to the unveiling, the (University of Southern California) USC Schwarzenegger Institute hosted a Global Climate Change Policy symposium with the Air Resources Board.
Andrew Oye's Verdict: In his return to acting, following his governorship, Arnold Schwarzenegger has appeared in six films, including two installments of the action-flick franchise "The Expendables." From "Terminator" to "Governator," the man who also served as Chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (1990 to 1993) and portrayed brawny characters in "Hercules" and "Conan The Barbarian" has exercised significant strength in the arena of sports and fitness promotion. As I just reported, a little over a week ago (September 28-29) during the Arnold Classic Europe, Arnold Schwarzenegger was named the first-ever Ambassador of Tourism by the City of Madrid, surely because of the impact his event has had on the city since making Spain its home upon launching in 2011.
This announcement came after being honored by the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness with his 12 fellow Sandow-trophy-holding Olympians at the 50th Anniversary of the Mr. Olympia Championships, the "Super Bowl of Bodybuilding" at Joe Weider's Olympia Weekend (September 18-21) in Las Vegas, Nevada. The next step in the expansion of Schwarzenegger's Arnold Classic franchise beyond its USA, Europe and Brasil editions (featuring bodybuilding, figure, fitness, strongman, powerlifting, MMA, wrestling, CrossFit, martial arts and many other competitions), includes Australia in 2015 and South Africa in 2016, with preliminary talks about Asia as well. In conclusion, Schwarzenegger had indeed flexed the muscle of influence, and its power has been felt by Olympic-sport competitors, IFBB Pro League athletes, philanthropic beneficiaries, business colleagues, film fans, and national and international constituents.
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