The greatest multi-sport spectacle on the African continent is almost here.
Promising to be bigger and better than before, the 2023 Arnold Classic Africa will rock the sporting socks off fans, athletes, and casual attendees alike. Hosted at Ruimsig Stadium from May 19 and 21, work began on May 10 to transform the stadium precinct from quiet fields into what brand custodian, Wayne Price, refers to as a ‘tent city’. The three-day fitness and athletic extravaganza will provide 80 individual platforms to those who live and breathe their sport.
Wayne has been in the events industry since 1991 and Gentle Giant Promotions was successful in bringing the Arnold Classic to South Africa for the first time in 2016.
“Being able to be a part of this is such an honour. I have always loved the atmosphere of events and I always say I love turning nothing into something. The impact has been seen since 2016. We are a global partnership and we all share that similar outcome, experience, and impact on people,” said Wayne.
The 80 activations will feature local and international competitors across a broad spectrum of activities, including five styles of martial arts, arm wrestling, fencing, team chess, e-Sports and so much more. As an elite competitor in both strongman and bodybuilding, those events will be close to Wayne’s heart but every sphere of the sporting world is represented.
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“We have had such a lot of new activations come on the programme. The platform is for everyone,” said Wayne.
Interaction and giving attendees new experiences is key to Wayne’s ambitions and this is best displayed through the ‘come-and-try’ portion of the weekend. Several federations will be allowing attendees to sample their sport, one example being Champions Pro Wrestling(CPW) who will be having tryouts for their professional wrestling stable.
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Having everyone in one place thriving off each other’s events, Wayne noted, ‘we all take different things from different spaces’.
The event was created to give smaller sporting codes a platform to showcase what they love doing and the appeal has grown exponentially. Wayne explains how many competitions began as provincial events and have since grown to continental and even international levels. The Arnold Classic has a spinoff called Sunfest Series which has enabled the gentle giant to take the multisport roadshow to each of the nine provinces, all intending to have them return for the annual main event.
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The Arnold Classic lets the sport do the talking as each federation need not pay to be represented and Gentle Giant Production foot the bill for logistics and planning. Many sports have been able to secure sponsorships on the back of the exposure created by the shared platform. There is a social responsibility aspect too as loads of children will be bussed in from all seven regions of Johannesburg while young people from the nearby informal settlement will have the paid opportunity to assist with building tents.
Urging entertainment lovers to get down to the stadium this weekend, Wayne said, “There are three things we love in South Africa: sport, food, and beer gardens. Accentuating his focus on the first of those.”
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Wayne concluded, “When we started we did so under the banner, ‘My Sport, My passion’ and this year has a new life and a new energy. I just get excited about people getting excited about doing what they doing.”
