Monroeville's Ahmad Matour hopes for shot at Mr. Olympia title

Ahmad Matour hopes to compete in the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition in September.

The 26-year-old Monroeville resident and native of Jordan punched his ticket to the prestigious annual competition in Las Vegas with a strong showing last month at the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio.

But as the coronavirus pandemic continues to progress and evolve, Matour said there is uncertainty as to whether the event will be held as scheduled or if he personally will take part in the event.

“At this point, we still don’t know what is going on,” said Matour, a 10-year bodybuilding practitioner since his days living in his home country.

“We’ve been checking the news and all the bodybuilding pages, and it’s not known if Las Vegas is going to be open or the hotel for the competition will be open. It is hard for all the competitors to prepare with things so uncertain and not knowing when everything will get back to normal.”

Matour said he needs at least three months to prepare with a full schedule in place. If everything is back on track sooner, he will move ahead with his preparation. But if not, he will take additional time off and come back for competitions in 2021.

Despite the uncertainty, Matour, a personal trainer who currently works with clients in the area through online sessions of instruction, is able to look back on a productive career of competition that led him to the Arnold Classic lightweight title in Columbus on March 7.

“When I grew up in Jordan, I was usually one of the smaller kids. It was always hard to stay up with the other kids my age,” he said. “I was looking for anything to help bring my strength up, my physique, trying to look bigger. At first, it was to build up confidence for myself, and I fell in love with it as soon as I tried it.”

Matour began competing six years ago. His first event was sponsored by the Jordanian Federation of Bodybuilding. He earned a first-place finish in the lightweight division at the 2017 Dubai Muscle Show in the capital and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates.

While studying for a degree in computer information systems at the University of Petra in Jordan, Matour met Stephanie, a New Kensington native and St. Joseph High School graduate who was studying at the University of Jordan in the summer of 2016 for her degree in American Studies and minor in sociology from Pitt-Greensburg.

The relationship grew over the next year.

Matour graduated and several months later he made a permanent move to the United States and lived for a short time with Stephanie and his now mother in law, Andrea, in New Kensington.

“(Andrea) helped me so much,” Matour said. “I really appreciated her love and support. She treated me as a son.”

The couple were married in June 2018 and moved to Monroeville.

Matour’s passion for bodybuilding didn’t slow down as he continued to train for competitions.

He placed second in the lightweight division at the 2018 National Physique Committee North American Championships in Pittsburgh. He returned to the event last year and captured first.

Matour attended last year’s Arnold Classic expo and met Flex Lewis, a Welsh bodybuilder who has won seven straight 212 (pound) Mr. Olympia titles.

“I told him it’s always been a dream to compete at the Arnold Classic,” Matour said. “He told me to focus with a full year to work on myself. That gave me a lot of confidence. I made it a point to come back, do the competition and win. I worked hard to just be able to compete. The hard work paid off. It was a dream that came true.”

Matour qualified for the Arnold Classic based on his 2019 NPC victory.

“To be honest, it was a really crazy feeling,” Matour said. “For the longest time, Arnold Schwarzenegger was an idol to me. I worked hard to hopefully one day be on that stage, compete there and see Arnold.”

The competition was during the early stages of the coronavirus response, and the participants were on stage in front of judges, media members and limited spectators.

With cameras rolling, the competition was broadcast on YouTube.

“It was a weird feeling at first,” Matour said. “But it also makes you a little more comfortable knowing you are only posing in front of the judges, and nobody else is looking at you. With it being online, there were a lot more people who were able to watch it.”

His lightweight win moved him to the overall finals against the first-place finishers from the other six divisions. An International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness pro card went to the winner.

The overall title went to Brazilian super heavyweight Fabio Rezende. Matour took fifth.

“That is so hard for the lightweight to compete next to the super heavyweight and the other divisions. (Rezende) is double my weight, and we’re standing on the stage next to each other. The judges said I had a great physique with lines and definition, but the overall is always for the bigger guy.”

Stephanie traveled to Columbus to support her husband, but she said it was a challenge to get into the arena to watch the competition with all the restrictions. But, she said, she knew he would do well.

Now, the hope for Matour is to compete in September on one of the biggest bodybuilding stages in the world.

“Bodybuilding, it’s said, can be a very selfish sport,” Stephanie said. “In a way, it is, but Ahmad is the most selfless person I know. Even when he’s training on his prep, he’s helping others, too. He’s an inspiration to me because I see the passion and dedication he has to himself, and he has that equal passion and dedication to others. He does a great job of lifting up others.”