Arnold Schwarzenegger congratulates champions after the "biggest and best ever" Arnold Sports Festival 2024

Arnold Schwarzenegger recently announced that the 2024 edition of the Arnold Sports Festival was the "biggest and best ever" in the 30-year history of the annual sports festival which features a wide range of sports.

The Arnold Sports Festival 2024 was scheduled from February 29 to March 3, 2024. Over a period of four days, the sports festival featured events such as the Arnold Classic, the Arnold Strongman Classic, and various events in fitness and combat sports.

On the completion of the annual sports festival, the star bodybuilder thanked all the fans, athletes, and sponsors for making the event more successful than ever. He called this year's festival the " biggest and best ever".

"The biggest and best @arnoldsports Festival… EVER. Thank you to the fans, thank you to the athletes, thank you to the sponsors. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We’ll be back next year - bigger and better," he captioned the post

After the conclusion of the event, Arnold Schwarzenegger took to social media to congratulate all the champions of the event.

What a weekend. Congratulations to our champions", he began.

"Men’s Open : Hadi Choopan, Arnold Strongman Classic: Mitchell Hooper, Classic Physique: Wesley Vissers, Arnold Strongwoman Classic: Angelica Jardine, Bikini International: Lauralie Chapados, World’s Strongest Firefighter: Marcus Waugh", he added as he named the winners of the respective events.

"Wellness International: Francielle Mattos, Men’s Physique: Diogo Montenegro, Fitness International: Ariel Khadr, Men’s Wheelchair Bodybuilding: Rajesh John," the caption read.

This year's Arnold Classic showcased fierce competition between the top bodybuilders in the world. A new champion was named in this year's Arnold Classic bodybuilding competition as Iran's Hadi Choopan dethroned Samson Dauda to take the crown.

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Arnold Sports Festival 2024 Prize money

Arnold Sports Festival Africa 2019

The Arnold Sports Festival is known for the lucrative prize money offered to the winners of the contests, and that arguably plays a role in attracting some of the top contestants from around the world.

Here is the prize money breakdown for the contests at the Arnold Sports Festival:

Arnold Strongman Classic

1st Place: $80,000

2nd Place: $25,000

3rd Place: $20,000

4th Place: $15,000

5th Place: $13,000

6th Place: $8,000

7th Place: $7,000

8th Place: $6,000

9th Place: $5,000

10th Place: $3,000

Arnold Strongwoman Classic

1st Place: $25,000

2nd Place: $15,000

3rd Place: $10,000

4th Place: $8,000

5th Place: $5,000

6th Place: $4,000

7th Place: $3,000

8th Place: $2,500

9th Place: $1,500

10th Place: $1,000

Arnold Classic Physique

1st Place: $60,000

2nd Place: $30,000

3rd Place: $20,000

4th Place: $7,000

5th Place: $4,000

6th Place: $2,000

Arnold Fitness International

1st Place: $25,000

2nd Place: $13,000

3rd Place: $8,000

4th Place: $5,000

5th Place: $3,000

6th Place: $2,000

Arnold Welness International

1st Place: $14,000

2nd Place: $7,000

3rd Place: $5,000

4th Place: $3,000

5th Place: $2,000

6th Place: $1,000

Recently, Schwarzenegger announced that the prize money for the 2025 Arnold Classic would be a whopping $500,000. It would be $100,000 more than Mr Olympia (via Gymnation), which can be seen as an attempt to make the Arnold Classic Bodybuilding contest the most rewarding competition of the year.

This year's winner of the Arnold Classic bodybuilding competition, Hadi Choopan, took home $300,000 while the runner-up, Samson Dauda, won $120,000.