Mamdouh Elssbiay - Big Ramy Bio and Competition History

Mamdouh Elssbiay is an Egyptian bodybuilder who was born in Cairo, Egypt. As a son of a fisherman, Elssbiay worked the trade until his teenage years when he moved to Kuwait with his brothers.

He is known as "Big Ramy" in the bodybuilding world, a nickname that he got because of his massive muscular size.

Related - The Complete History of Bodybuilding

The bodybuilding potential that Elssbiay had was initially discovered by the owner of the gym Bader Bodai, who gave training and nutrition advice to the IFBB pro Dennis James earlier. Bodai spotted the perfect genetics and the discipline shown by Elssbiay and decided to take advantage of it, encouraging Big Ramy to compete.

Elssbiay’s career kicked off in 2012 when he won the 2012 Kuwait Golden Cup after training at the Oxygen Gym in Kuwait for two years. With a weight of 286 lbs, Big Ramy was noticed and was the clear champion in several other competitions after this, including the 2012 Amateur Olympia and the 2013 New York Pro Championship.

The latter helped Elssbiay to get a card for the prestigious 2013 Mr. Olympia where he finished eight.

However, Elssbiay’s winning streak did not end here. In 2014, he won the New York Pro Championship again and finished 7th at the 2014 Mr. Olympia - one place better than the previous year.

In 2015, Elssbiay won the Arnold Classic Brazil and finished 5th at the 2015 Mr. Olympia. The greatest success for Elssbiay was the fourth place at the 2016 Mr. Olympia. He also placed well at many other local IFBB contest wins including the 2016 IFBB Kuwait Pro and the 2017 Arnold Classic Europe.

Elssbiay has graced a lot of covers on prestigious bodybuilding magazines all around the world. He is one of the most popular non-US bodybuilders and particularly one of the most talked individuals at the 2013 Mr. Olympia competition.