BACK
FOR
MORE
THE RIDICULOUSLY WIDE, THICK BACK OF
MAMDOUH “BIG RAMY” ELSSBIAY
ECLIPSED ALL BUT ONE OF HIS FOES LAST
YEAR. WILL IT BE ENOUGH TO PULL OFF AN
UPSET AT THIS SEPTEMBER’S OLYMPIA?
BY MICHAEL BERG, NSCA-C.P.T.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY PER BERNAL
As bodybuilding fans
are surely aware by
now, Phil Heath is still the
reigning Mr. Olympia, with
an incredible seven titles
in a row.
But that last one? It sure
as hell wasn’t easy, with a
certain 5'10", 300-pound
behemoth offering up a brutal
fight. Mamdouh Elssbiay—aka
“Big Ramy”—has been steadily
gaining on Heath and all the
other top pros in the IFBB Pro
League since earning his pro
card by winning the 2012
Amateur Olympia.
The 33-year-old’s steady
ascension can be measured
purely by his Mr. O results:
eighth in 2013, seventh in
2014, fifth in 2015, fourth in
2016, and now a runner-up
medal in 2017. Along the
way, he’s captured five pro
titles, including the 2013
and 2014 New York Pro,
2015 Arnold Classic Brazil,
2016 Kuwait Pro, and, just
a week after this past
Olympia, the Arnold Classic
Europe on Sept. 23 in
Barcelona, Spain.
Now the showdown is
set, the irresistible force
versus the immovable object,
as Heath guns for a record-
tying eighth Olympia title,
and Big Ramy—indeed, the
heaviest pro bodybuilder
to ever step onstage—looks
to take the next logical,
thunderous step upward in
his rise to the apex of the
sport as he shoots for a
rematch at the 2018 Olympia.