by Christian Duque
You know I want to believe him. I really do. I want to believe that visa issues are the reason why two-time Mr Olympia Big Ramy will not be appearing at the 2024 Pittsburgh Pro. I want to believe that it was out of his hands and that he had every intention of showing up and that he had prepared extensively for this appearance. I want to believe that there’s no coincidence between the fact that Ramy has not competed in well over a year and a half and will probably not compete at this year’s Olympia either.
I want to believe that he has fully recovered given the time he has had off from the stage. I want to believe that there’s no coincidence with the fact that he has been caught posting old photos and old videos on social media by all the bodybuilding media outlets. I want to believe that he is not hiding injuries. I want to believe that his new coach had to be tight-lipped about working with him just because. Not for any reason, just because. I want to believe in these things because I truly would like to see Ramy return to the stage. He was an underdog from the moment he won the New York Pro well over a decade ago.
Ramy represented size to the extreme. We mustn’t forget a time not too long ago when bodybuilding was dominated by the giants – both in height and in weight. A time when it would have been unheard of for not one but much less two former 212 competitors having the top OPEN spot. Now it seems the sport has totally changed in just a matter of a handful of years. I want to believe that this guest posing appearance would have been the very beginning of the return of Ramy to the stage, but I think after covering the sport for as long as I have, I would be a total novice if I believed in half of the things that I posted in these two initial paragraphs.
Big Ramy is currently based out of the United Arab Emirates. It is one of the most western-friendly countries in the world. To even call it a country is a stretch. It’s basically a collection of small principalities that generate an enormous amount of income on the world market. It’s a powerhouse!! There is no greater friend to capitalism and Western interests than the UAE. So the idea that somebody flying out of there to the United States would have visa issues is kind of a stretch. But maybe he was no longer in the UAE, maybe he was back home in Egypt.
Egypt is one of America’s strongest allies in the Arab world. They have been for well over 30 years. The idea that it would be cumbersome to get a visa given the high profile nature of Ramy in Egypt coming to the United States also seems like quite a bit of a stretch.
Again we need to understand international relations and how they factor into the visa process because they most certainly do. This is why it is so difficult to get a visa from Iran or North Korea because they have virtually non-existent ties to the West, and more importantly to the United states. If you don’t know if you’re on foot or horseback when it comes to diplomatic relations then you probably shouldn’t be weighing in on an article about the ease or difficulty of getting a visa to travel. I just so happen to know a thing or two about politics, history, and current events, where I feel comfortable talking about the subject. I’m also an immigration attorney so I feel even more comfortable talking about the subject.
The reality of the matter though is that if someone waits to the very last minute to apply for a visa even from a country as close to the United States diplomatically speaking as say Canada or Great Britain that may be a culprit in not getting a visa.
Ramy has known about this show for quite some time. This is, after all, the president’s show. This is the most politically important competition in the sport of bodybuilding second only to The Olympia and the Arnold. But if you skip the Olympia or the Arnold you’re out prize money, but you’re not necessarily going to run against the political powers in Pittsburgh.
That being said, a lot of people in the sport of bodybuilding will have you believe that there is no politics present. That it’s all merit-based. That it only has to do with physique, muscularity, symmetry and aesthetics. Of course politics has nothing to do with bodybuilding… And if you believe that I have a bridge to sell you in New Jersey. It’s not that bodybuilding is evil or that bodybuilding is corrupt. I’m not saying that. But what I am saying is it would be a pretty naive way of thinking to assume that there weren’t politics involved in any sport. Bodybuilding, football, ice hockey, whatever.
Politics are most definitely involved in every single sport and every single discipline from bodybuilding to roller derby to competitive chess playing. Politics factors in as to where events are held, who judges them, their frequency and their sanctioning. Politics are unfortunately an unnecessary evil and pretty much in every pastime anywhere and everywhere.
Therefore when Ramy missed the Pittsburgh Pro the second year of his Olympia reign and then all of a sudden lost it – some people might argue that he maybe you shouldn’t have missed the president’s show. Maybe he shouldn’t have been on the contest poster and then been a no-show. Maybe he shouldn’t have waited 10 days to give a half-ass excuse as to why he didn’t go when everyone there was expecting him to appear. And maybe it had nothing to do with him taking fifth place at his more than likely third Olympia win. And then you look back and you look at where have defending Mr Olympia’s that have lost the title wound up. Second place, third place, and up until Ramy’s defeat 4th place.
It’s just interesting that the year Ramy skipped the president’s show and by many accounts snubbed him, he was relegated to 5th place at the Olympia. And then when he returned a couple of months later looking incredibly better for the Arnold Classic – he still placed 5th.
So again maybe it was just a coincidence and maybe it’s wasn’t. Maybe politics play a role and maybe they don’t. But the bottom line is, this is the second time that Ramy has skipped the president’s show. Only this time he actually had the common sense to inform the public before skipping the event.
Now I will tell you that if someone waits to the last minute, they will not get a visa. And maybe Ramy waited till the last minute and was able to conveniently blame the fact he could not get a travel document as the reason why he didn’t do the show. Maybe in his estimation by appearing on the contest poster and flirting with the idea of guest posing at the president’s show that that would have created a good amount of media buzz behind him so as to make him somewhat relevant in a sport that has largely left him behind. People don’t really talk about him anymore nor do they wonder if he’s going to make a return to the stage. I am only playing devil’s advocate here. But it would stand to reason that if he had no intention to ever come to Pittsburgh he could have simply flirted with the idea, appeared on all the promotional materials, and then put a half-ass effort at getting a visa so close to travel time that he could not have received it. So for all intents and purposes it looked like he really tried to travel. He just wasn’t able to. And if that’s the case, then who’s going to blame him? I mean it’s not like there’s a lot of lawyers that are writers in the bodybuilding industry. There’s not a lot of people in the bodybuilding industry with a pretty good grasp of international relations, either.
I mean who’s going to question the big man?
Well maybe I’m questioning the big man. And maybe I’m not. Maybe politics play a role and maybe they don’t. Maybe he tried to get a visa with plenty of time in advance and maybe he didn’t.
Amaybe you’re not even reading this article. Maybe this has all been a big dream. Lol