I’m excited to tell our blog readers a little about Sunrider International’s participation both as a sponsor and a competitor at the 2008 Arnold Sports Festival, a 3-day event that promotes "a weekend of sports and a lifetime of fitness." Held in Columbus, Ohio from February 29 to March 2, it’s the largest annual sports festival in the world, with 17,000 athletes competing in a wide variety of events—only the Olympics are bigger and they occur every four years. The Festival features 37 events and 12 Olympic sports, and attracts 150,000 sports and fitness enthusiasts from around the world. And this year was extra special as it was the 20th anniversary of the Festival’s centerpiece event—the Arnold Classic—which is considered to be among the most prestigious bodybuilding competitions in the world.Sunrider as Sponsor
One of the main reasons Sunrider started sponsoring the Arnold Sports Festival in 2006 was to provide financial support to showcase top athletes from China. This event also provides a great venue to introduce the attendees to a successful worldwide company that has been providing “Health and Wealth” to the world for over 25 years. Sunrider was delighted this year to sponsor Zhang Jie and his teammate Lu Changliang, junior weightlifting champions from the Chinese Weightlifting Association. Both of these amazing athletes wowed the crowds on center stage with their performances as shown below.
When people ask me “What is Sunrider?” I often give them the following quick 30-second response:
● 25 years of stable financial growth
● Currently doing business in 42 countries
● Self manufacturer of over 400 exclusive products
● Own and operate over 2 million square feet of manufacturing facilities in 4 countries
● Opportunities to own a business system we consider to be better than a franchise.
Here are some approximate details about our newest manufacturing plant addition currently under construction near Los Angeles, CA:
● State-of the-art pharmaceutical-grade manufacturing equipment
● Nearly 1 million-square feet of working space
● 150 million dollar estimated total investment
● Perimeter of the project is approximately 1 mile long
● Ribbon cutting ceremony during our Grand Convention in July 2008
Sunrider as Competitor
Although I’ve always enjoyed bodybuilding as a hobby, I became really excited about competing in the sport because of Sunrider’s sponsorship presence at the event and being surrounded by thousands of athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Last year, I set a personal goal to compete in my first amateur bodybuilding show and I took third place in the lightweight division. A few months later I found out that my third place finish had qualified me to compete at the 2nd annual amateur bodybuilding competition during the Arnold Sports Festival. Sunrider was already planning to send me back in 2008 as a sponsor representative anyways, so now I could also participate “on stage” instead of just watching from a distance—this was to be the perfect mix of business and pleasure!
Although I’ve always enjoyed bodybuilding as a hobby, I became really excited about competing in the sport because of Sunrider’s sponsorship presence at the event and being surrounded by thousands of athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Last year, I set a personal goal to compete in my first amateur bodybuilding show and I took third place in the lightweight division. A few months later I found out that my third place finish had qualified me to compete at the 2nd annual amateur bodybuilding competition during the Arnold Sports Festival. Sunrider was already planning to send me back in 2008 as a sponsor representative anyways, so now I could also participate “on stage” instead of just watching from a distance—this was to be the perfect mix of business and pleasure!
My exercise regimen consisted of working with my professional fitness trainer twice a week for about an hour, and then a one-hour per day workout 4 more days during the week by myself, and then resting on Sundays. My dietary supplementation for this show came only from Sunrider’s exclusively formulated “foods” made with our own pharmaceutical-grade manufacturing equipment to ensure the highest quality foods. From where I started before beginning this journey to compete as a bodybuilder, I can enthusiastically say that I looked great and felt great on stage!
All in all Sunrider was honored to participate both as a sponsor and as a competitor during this very special anniversary year for the Arnold Sports Festival.
John Teng
Sales Manager – North America
Photos courtesy of and copyright 2008 John Teng
