Harold Kelley breaks down just how incredible it was for Big Ramy to finally bring in his conditioning at such a massive size.
Harold Kelley has been the dominating Pro Wheelchair bodybuilding champion for quite some time. He has three Olympia wins and five Arnold Classic wins. With such prestige behind his name, we were excited to get his reaction to the Men’s Open Olympia 2020 results this year. In our latest GI Exclusive, Harold Kelley details his thoughts on the Men’s Open Olympia 2020 results.
Harold Kelley mentions right at the top of our question that he is friends with Phil Heath. So while he was extremely excited to see such a competitive Men’s Open division at the Olympia this year, he also felt bad for Phil Heath’s loss. That being said, Kelley can still admit that it’s undeniable that Big Ramy deserved to with the Olympia 2020.
Like everyone else, Harold Kelley knew that Big Ramy’s biggest struggle was matching conditioning to his enormous size. His inability to do so in the past led to a rollercoaster of a career. His highest moment before this past year was placing second at the 2017 Mr. Olympia. The next year he dropped down to sixth.
Even during his second place finish in 2017, his conditioning was still teetering on the edge. While many fans argued that Ramy should have beat Phil Heath that year, there was a fair argument for him to lose as well.
Harold Kelley points out that this was the first year where nothing was a “maybe” for Big Ramy. The moment Ramy stepped on stage, everyone knew they were seeing a physique he had never possessed before in his entire career.
Big Ramy’s inconsistent placings in the past didn’t put him in the conversation this year. This was only accelerated by his lack of appearance in 2019. That’s what made his presence at the Olympia 2020 such a shock. He finally did it. He found a way to perfect his conditioning without sacrificing his trademark size.
Harold Kelley makes sure to point out that this doesn’t mean any of the other athletes did anything wrong. Brandon Curry improved slightly from his last showing. It was simply that Big Ramy finally lived up to his promise.
We also asked Harold Kelley what advice he would give Phil Heath looking towards the future. Kelley considers himself a friend of Heath’s – does he recommend that Heath keep fighting? Or retire proud of his seven Sandow trophies?
Harold Kelley believes that there is no right answer. It’s down to what the athlete feels in his heart. He wouldn’t recommend anything to Phil Heath other than to do what feels right. Win or lose – if you have the fire in you to keep competing, feed that fire. It’s not always about the results. It’s also about the passion behind the sport.
You can watch Harold Kelley’s full comments on the Olympia 2020 Men’s Open results in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above.
