80k Fitness Fans Attend 5th Annual Arnold Classic Europe

Dexter Jackson Wins Arnold Classic Europe Title for 3rd Straight "Arnold" Win

MADRID, Spain — A record 80,000 sports and fitness fans converged on Madrid this weekend to watch more than 6,000 athletes compete in more than 30 sports and events at the 5th Annual Arnold Classic Europe.

Arnold Classic Europe features a large health and fitness exposition and a variety of sporting events, including professional and amateur bodybuilding, weightlifting, cheerleading, martial arts, CrossFit, skateboarding, pole fitness and many, many more. The event was held Sept. 25-27, 2015 in Madrid, Spain.

The Arnold Classic Europe was founded in 2011 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Columbus, Ohio businessman Jim Lorimer and Dr. Rafael Santonja, president of the International Federation of Body Building. Schwarzenegger attended the event, the largest event of its kind in Europe, for a fifth straight year and made appearances at all sporting events.

Similar Arnold Sports Festival events are held annually in Columbus, Ohio USA; Rio de Janeiro, Brasil and Melbourne, Australia. The Arnold Sports Festival concept will be on six continents in 2016 with additional festivals planned in South Africa and China.

In the Arnold Classic Europe’s marquee event, Dexter Jackson of Jacksonville, Fla., won his third consecutive Arnold Classic professional men’s bodybuilding championship when he captured the Arnold Classic Europe on Saturday, Sept. 26 in Madrid Arena.

The victory came on the heels of the popular Jackson winning his fifth Arnold Classic title in March in Columbus, Ohio and his first Arnold Classic Australia championship the following week in Melbourne, Australia.

Jackson, 46, has now accepted the champion’s trophy an unprecedented seven times from Schwarzenegger. Jackson has won five titles in Columbus and one each in Melbourne and Madrid. Jackson said he now aims to win Arnold Classic titles at events on all six continents in the coming years.

Jackson earned the champions trophy, an Official Tony Nowak Champions Jacket and $40,000 for the victory. Shawn Rhoden of Germantown, Md., earned $25,000 for second, while Dennis Wolf of Germany earned $15,000 for third.

Oksana Grishina, a Russian native now living in Hollywood, Calif., won the Arnold Fitness Europe for the second time in a row. She earned $6,000 for the victory. Grishina also won the Fitness International in Columbus for the second time in a row in March.

The first Arnold Classic Europe was held in 2011 as part of a globalization of the Arnold Sports Festival concept that was founded in 1989 in Columbus, Ohio. The Arnold Classic Brasil debuted in 2013 and the first Arnold Classic Australia was held in 2015. Arnold Classic South Africa and Arnold Classic China will be held for the first time in 2016.

“We have had many requests over the years to take the Arnold Classic to many cities throughout the world, but we are proud that the first Arnold Classic event that we took global was held in Madrid, Spain in 2011. Dr. Rafael Santonja and his wife, Nieves, and their entire team has made the event bigger and better every year and we look forward to returning again in 2016,” said Lorimer, who has partnered with Schwarzenegger since 1975 and has co-produced the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio annually since 1989. The Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio annually attracts 185,000 sports and fitness fans and 18,000 athletes from 80 nations who compete in more than 50 sports and events.

Fore more information on Arnold Classic Europe and the Arnold Sports Festival, visit www.arnoldclassiceurope.es and www.arnoldsportsfestival.com

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