City of Columbus

Jim Lorimer is an attorney and former Special Agent of the F.B.I. who has promoted the Arnold Sports Festival since 1989.

Lorimer has promoted a wide range of sports events in Columbu since the 1960s.  After service with the F.B.I., Lorimer joined Nationwide Insurance Company in Columbus as Vice President of Government Relations and established that company’s leading corporate fitness program.

Mr. Lorimer has served as Mayor and Vice Mayor of Worthington, Ohio, for the past 52 years.

Lorimer founded the National Championship Ohio Track Club in 1959 and served as Chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee for Women’s Athletics during the 1960s.  He promoted National Championships in track and field and weightlifting in Columbus – and in 1970 directed the World Weightlifting Championships and Mr. World Contest. Arnold Schwarzenegger won the 1970 event and that developed into a friendship and partnership that has lasted 42 years. When Arnold became Chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports – Jim Lorimer served on that Council with him.

The sports promotion partnership between Schwarzenegger and Lorimer began in 1976 when the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding contest was held in Columbus. The pair promoted events almost annually in Columbus until the creation of the Arnold Classic in 1989. Since then the annual event has grown to be the largest multi-sport event in the world with 80 sports and events, 22,000 athletes from 80 nations and 220,000 attendees. In 2019, the Arnold Sports Festival will be presented on five continents – Columbus, Ohio; Melbourne Australia; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Johannesburg, South America; and Barcelona, Spain.