Elssbiay is using his recent failure as motivation.
Entering the 2022 Mr. Olympia, former two-time champion (2020-2021) Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay was a presumed heavy favorite to finish a legendary “three-peat.” As a substitute, the Egyptian superstar finished in fifth place, forcing a possible recalibration for one in all bodybuilding’s biggest names. That seemingly refocused energy now appears to be coming back into play for Elssbiay.
In a recent interview with Frank Sepe of Muscle & Fitness, Elssbiay discussed his current competitive trajectory because the 2023 Mr. Olympia in Orlando, FL, inches closer by the week. The athlete offered a glimpse into his mentality and clarified that his most up-to-date Olympia result’s being utilized as a source of motivation in training.
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Elssbiay is likely to be 38 years old on the time of this writing, but he knows one Olympia loss won’t define him. In any case, he wasn’t all the time a two-time defending champion. It’s this recentering of efforts, of looking properly forward, that has Elssbiay desirous to leave all of it on stage in November 2023.
“I’m really excited like all the time,” Elssbiay said. “I even have to do one thing. Work hard. I do this for a reason all the time, but this 12 months I do it because everyone knows in the event you lose one time, it’s never the top … If anything comes after working hard, you probably did effective. You’ve got greater than what you had in your pocket.”
Crucially, Elssbiay didn’t overlook what appears to be a stacked field within the Men’s Open division this 12 months. Any variety of competitors, including energetic defending champion Hadi Choopan, 2023 Olympia runner-up Derek Lunsford, and even third-place finisher Nick Walker could stand on top of the 2023 Olympia mountain.
It’s here where Elssbiay maintained he’s just a little offended about falling short in 2022. It’s less an anger at his peers and more at himself. He’s now using that emotion to push himself within the gym and on stage and to be the perfect again.
“I believe we’ll have a pleasant lineup of competitors immediately and the lineup is getting stronger,” Elssbiay said. “That makes me very excited to be on this lineup again and work harder than anybody. No, it’s not anger since you lost. It’s anger because you should be the perfect on this planet. That may provide you with a likelihood to work hard. I told my friends today, perhaps you get offended, however the anger doesn’t break you. It makes you fight more.”
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If Elssbiay desires to be Mr. Olympia again, he’ll should be honest with himself and see where he can improve. This doesn’t look like a problem for the superstar to this point in 2023. If anything, he clearly already understands where he has room to grow — each literally and figuratively.
Featured image: @arnoldsports on Instagram