At Convention, Governor Fondly Recalls Bodybuilding Years

On his annual visit here for the fitness convention he owns, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger waxed nostalgic about his days as a champion bodybuilder, visiting with idols from his muscle days, handing out trophies at tournaments and declaring bodybuilding to be the “foundation” of his work in politics.

“No matter what I do, if it is acting or if it is business or if it is politics,” the governor told a crowd of more than 5,000 inside the Greater Columbus Convention Center on Saturday afternoon, “I will always be a bodybuilder.”

Schwarzenegger spent much of the day visiting venues at the Arnold Fitness Weekend, the centerpiece of which is a bodybuilding tournament called the Arnold Classic. He co-owns the event with a local lawyer.

As he moved from bodybuilding to gymnastics to martial arts to Olympic weightlifting, Schwarzenegger seemed more enthusiast than governor of the nation’s largest state.

The governor gushed about meeting former Soviet weightlifter Leonid Zhabotinsky, the 1964 Olympic gold medalist, whom Schwarzenegger recalled carrying the large Soviet flag upright with just one hand at the opening ceremonies. Schwarzenegger talked to anyone who would listen about how bodybuilding “created a foundation” for him by teaching him to turn obstacles into assets.

He recalled the frustration of being mistaken for a professional wrestler (and how he hired a publicist to correct that), his difficulties with diminishing his accent (he said he often repeated the phrase “a fine wine grows on the vine”), and even his use of steroids, which he sought to minimize.

He also spent time with his idol, former bodybuilder Reg Park, and the promoter who first brought him to America, Joe Weider, who made a fortune in supplements and muscle magazines. Both Weider and Park predicted that Schwarzenegger would become president -- which would require an amendment to the U.S. Constitution allowing foreign-born citizens to run for the office.

“I expect him to end up at the White House,” Park said.

Schwarzenegger also promoted the value of nutritional supplements, and in an 18-minute interview with California reporters said he takes such supplements “three or four times a day” based on a schedule he keeps in the bathroom of his Capitol office. “I never run out of energy,” the governor said.

Schwarzenegger said the drugs sold at his fitness convention were legal and that “we’ve had people arrested” for trying to sell illegal drugs there.

The governor also pledged to be an “Alabama tick” in fighting to keep drugs out of bodybuilding. Schwarzenegger, along with pro bodybuilding official Wayne Demilia, said Arnold Classic competitors were tested for some drugs but acknowledged that athletes -- with help from drug companies -- were finding ways to beat drug tests.

“I know there are certain athletes, when you look at them, they are on something,” Schwarzenegger said in an interview, “but you know, you test it and the test shows otherwise. That is a frustrating thing. I am a big believer that we should get rid of the problem.”

Victor Conte, founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, which is at the center of allegations of steroid use among pro athletes, is attending the Arnold Fitness Weekend. Conte faces federal steroid distribution charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty. Organizers of the event said he had no official role and was not credentialed.

Approached by a Times reporter at the convention center early Saturday evening, Conte -- wearing the orange paper bracelet given to those who bought tickets for the show -- said he was in Columbus to promote a zinc magnesium supplement.

He referred all other questions to his lawyer. “My attorney won’t allow me to talk,” he said.

Asked about Conte on Saturday, Schwarzenegger said: “I’ve never heard of him. I don’t know what he’s selling.”

The governor also said his schedule at the event was somewhat reduced from previous years -- “BG,” or Before Governor, as some Arnold cultists here call it.

In past years, Schwarzenegger made a point of visiting each of the hundreds of exhibition booths in the convention center as part of a three- or four-day visit. This year, the governor was to spend only 48 hours in Columbus. He fought through crowds just to visit a dozen booths Saturday afternoon.

“I’m a little bummed. You come to this to see the Governator,” said Troy Conant, a local college student who began attending the event three years ago.

But Schwarzenegger did manage other duties. He posed for photographs with about 2,000 people who had paid $350 for a VIP ticket package. (He spent about five seconds with each person). And he handed out trophies to the bodybuilding champions. The women’s winner, Iris Kyle of Huntington Beach, told the governor she voted for him.

Schwarzenegger also kept an appointment with the International Chiropractors Assn., which for years has held a convention to coincide with the Arnold Classic.

“I have done many things in my life,” he told about 200 chiropractors at the Westin Hotel here. “Without a doubt, this -- being governor -- has been the most fun and the most challenging and the most rewarding job that I’ve ever had.”