Big Ramy Will Not Be A 2014 Olympia Threat

Heading into the 2013 Mr. Olympia, much of the talk not only involved what was expected to be another great battle between Phil Heath and Kai Greene, but if a newcomer would spoil the party. Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay exploded onto the IFBB scene by winning his first show at the New York Pro – defeating Victor Martinez in the process – and entered the Olympia as more than just a wild card. The sheer mass he possessed hadn’t been seen since the Ronnie Coleman era and the Kuwait native had four more months to add to his 286-pound frame.

But a less-than-perfect conditioned Mamdouh arrived in Las Vegas and finished eighth, a disappointment with all the hoopla coming in. All things considered, breaking the top-10 in your first O is still nothing to sneeze at.

This past March, Mamdouh was hospitalized with a chest infection and he didn’t officially announce that he was going to defend his New York Pro title until the 11^th hour. But even at less than 100 percent, he bested the rest of the line-up and made it two in a row in the Big Apple. So the obvious scenario is that a healthy Ramy will use last year’s experience and be able to dial it in and bump off three-time champion Heath.

Not so fast.

Yes, Ramy should be able to improve on what he showed last September and bring home a larger check, but he will not place higher than fourth.

Quite the bold statement but let’s look at it objectively. Unless Heath comes in totally out of shape, he will need space on the mantle for a fourth Sandow. Greene  – who has been the runner-up in 2012 and 2013 – may slip down a place or two and that could have been the case already with Dennis Wolf coming in last year with a tremendous physique. And let’s not forget Shawn Rhoden, who finished third and fourth, respectively, at the last two Olympias.

Ramy will have to peak at the right time and the aforementioned trio have had all year to prep for the big show. No infections, hospital stays or dieting down for them.

All of those factors will spell trouble for Ramy at The Orleans Arena.