The first year Sabah Mahdi tried to come to America for the Arnold Fitness Expo, he couldn’t get a passport to leave his war-torn country. Later that year, Mahdi’s gym, named the Arnold Classic, was ripped apart by blasts from two truck bombs. Last year, a tight curfew in Baghdad stopped him from making the flight — even after Arnold Schwarzenegger personally paid for the airfare. This year, despite the continuing war in Iraq, Mahdi made it to Columbus and basked in the glory of a man he has idolized for 33 years. And Schwarzenegger returned the admiration: He took...