It’s hard for many people to believe that it’s already been almost two months since the shocking announcement was made by the Arnold Sports Festival that the 2020 Arnold Expo was cancelled and that audience allowance was limited to the evening shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Weeks later, the Arnold Australia was also altered while the contests in both South America and Africa were postponed. While the most pressing matter was the health and safety of people around the world, there were questions about what would happen with these contests. Aside from the events of those scheduled weekends, the Arnold Pro Strongman World Series is the system that determines who competes in the 2021 Arnold Strongman Classic.
BarBend reached out to Brent Lalonde of the Arnold Sports Festival, who offered some insight on the future of these contests as well as the overall strongman series scoring system.
Arnold South America, Australia, and Africa
According to Lalonde, the Arnold South America has been rescheduled to take place on October 2nd through 4th, 2020. The Arnold Africa hopes to reschedule later in the year, but no formal dates have been announced. The contests that were scheduled to take place on their original dates are planned to take place on their new dates. There is no word on when or if the events that were cancelled in Australia will take place this year.
Arnold Europe
The Arnold Europe was originally scheduled to take place in September. Lalonde stated that it has also been rescheduled. This contest will now take place on December 11-13 in Sevilla, Spain.
Arnold Strongman Pro Series
BarBend asked Lalonde if the scoring system and qualification process for the 2021 ASC will be changed. Aside from the ASC Champion — Hafthor Bjornsson — athletes either have to win a qualifying event or be in the top three of their scoring system if they didn’t win a contest. Lalonde confirmed changes would happen but couldn’t state what specifically would be done as of yet.
“There will be changes made to the qualifying system for the Arnold Pro Strongman World Series. But we do not know what those changes will be at this time. We need to first determine which qualifying events will be held between now and March 2021.”
Lalonde also mentioned that while specifics weren’t available yet, there would be changes for the 2021 Arnold Sports Festival which will take place in Columbus, Ohio.
“We are already making plans for the 2021 Arnold Sports Festival but have yet to make any decisions on changes to our event. I am sure there will be changes but those decisions will come as we move forward.”
Featured Image: Instagram/arnoldsports of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hafthor Bjornsson