Austrian-American actor and former professional bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger has postponed the Arnold Sports Festival 2020.

The annual multi-sport event, established in 1989,features fitness and figure, professional bodybuilding and swimsuit competitions, as well as the sale of sports apparel, equipment and nutrition products. This year, it was scheduled set to take place from March 5 to 8 at the Greater Columbus Conventional Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Schwarzenegger made the announcement on Twitter, saying that while "it's a sad day" for him and his team to have to make such a decision, they "can't risk bringing 250,000 people together with #COVID19" and have to put the "fans' health first".

On Feb 28, the former governor of California had posted a tweet expressing his excitement about the event: "I can't wait to be back in Columbus, Ohio next week for the Arnold Sports Festival with 250,000 of my closest friends. 85 different sports, 22,000 athletes, 80 nations - our fitness crusade gets bigger and bigger every year."