Most bodybuilders win their first Olympia title in their twenties. Kamal Elgargni won his at 47 — after a sixteen-year amateur career, an international ban he spent years fighting, and a pro card that only arrived in 2018. 🏆
Then, at 51, “The Libyan Lion” did it again in a second division, winning the 2023 Masters Olympia in the Men’s Open class.
This is his complete, verified story: the Qatar years, the ban, three IFBB Pro League wins, five straight 212 Olympia podiums — and where he stands in 2026.
⚡ Quick Facts
| Full Name | Kamal Abdulsalam Elgargni |
| Nickname | The Libyan Lion (Lion of Libya) |
| Born | November 21, 1971 — Tripoli, Libya |
| Age | 54 (turns 55 on November 21, 2026) |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| Contest Weight | 212 lb (96 kg) |
| Nationality | Libyan — represented Qatar from 2003 to 2017; based in Tampa, Florida |
| Divisions | IFBB Pro League Men’s 212 and Men’s Open |
| Pro Card | 2018 — IFBB Pro League |
| Pro Wins | 3 — 2018 Arnold Classic 212, 2019 212 Olympia, 2023 Masters Olympia (Open) |
| Olympia Record | Five 212 Olympias (2018–2022): one title, one 2nd, three 3rds — never off the podium |
| @ifbb_pro_kamal_elgargni | |
| Status | Not retired — last competed August 2023; no contest appearance in 2024–2026 |
🌱 Tripoli Beginnings
Kamal Abdulsalam Elgargni was born on November 21, 1971, in Tripoli, Libya. He started training in 1993 and won his first competition a year later — the Libyan championship in the 70 kg class. 🇱🇾
In 1997 he moved to Malta, and in 1998 he settled in the United Kingdom. Competing under the British flag, he won his height class at the 2001 NABBA Britain show.
That same year he took the short class at the NABBA Mr. Universe. In 2002 he went one better, winning the NABBA World Championships overall title.
👑 The Amateur King: The Qatar Years (2003–2017)
In 2002 Elgargni began representing Qatar, and from 2003 to 2017 he competed under the Qatari flag. Qatar wanted world-class bodybuilders for international competition — and a NABBA world champion fit the bill perfectly.
What followed was one of the most decorated amateur careers the sport has seen. Between 2003 and 2014 he won six IFBB World Amateur class titles, struck gold at the 2005 World Games and the 2006 Asian Games, and collected ten Asian Gold Cup wins.
There was one early taste of the pro stage. Invited to the 2003 Night of Champions in New York, the 75 kg amateur placed 21st of 41 in an Open line-up built for mass monsters — and went back to the amateur ranks, where the 212 division he was made for did not yet exist in his world.
The contest record books also show a disqualification at the 2003 IFBB World Amateur Championships. The records do not state a reason, and Elgargni’s career rolled on regardless: world amateur titles in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2013.
🚫 The Lost Years: The Ban Battle
Elgargni’s own account of what happened next — told in interviews and reported by Fitness Volt — explains why his pro debut took until he was 46.
He says that when he pushed for his pro card around 2011, the IFBB instead handed him a two-year ban amid a dispute over drug-testing rules — a ban he maintains was imposed without him ever testing positive. He appealed, served a shortened suspension, and won the 2013 World Amateur title on his return.
When he demanded the pro card again, he says Libyan federation officials banned him for life in 2013. For five years, one of the most successful amateurs alive could not turn professional.
The door finally opened in 2018. After the IFBB split into two entities, Elgargni spoke with IFBB Pro League president Jim Manion, the ban was lifted, and the pro card was his at last. 💪
🚀 2018: A Pro Card at 46 — and an Arnold Classic Win
Most 46-year-olds are a decade into retirement. Elgargni started his pro career by winning the second-biggest show in bodybuilding, the 2018 Arnold Classic 212 title, on his first attempt.
That autumn he made his 212 Olympia debut and placed 3rd. A rookie season with an Arnold title and an Olympia podium — at an age when the sport had written him off twice.
🏆 2019: 212 Mr. Olympia at 47
At the 2019 Mr. Olympia in Las Vegas, Elgargni succeeded the great Flex Lewis as 212 champion, beating runner-up Derek Lunsford and third-placed Shaun Clarida.
At 47, the man who had been banned from turning pro was the best 212 bodybuilder on the planet. It remains one of the most remarkable late-career breakthroughs in the sport’s history. 🦁
🥈 The Title Defences (2020–2022)
Elgargni never finished off the Olympia podium. In 2020 he placed 2nd, losing the title to Shaun Clarida — the man who had stood third behind him a year earlier.
In 2021 he was 3rd, behind Lunsford and Clarida. Then, at 50, he tested himself in the Open division: 2nd at the 2022 Tampa Pro and 4th at the Texas Pro, against men with no weight limit at all.
He closed 2022 back in the 212 class with another 3rd place at the Olympia — his fifth straight Olympia podium in five appearances.
👑 2023: Masters Olympia Champion
In August 2023 the Masters Olympia returned after an 11-year absence, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Elgargni, at 51, won the Men’s Open title.
The win made him only the second man in history — after Dexter Jackson — to win Olympia titles in two different divisions: the 212 in 2019 and the Masters Open in 2023.
The Masters title qualified him for the 2023 Mr. Olympia in both the Open and the 212. In the end he did not compete in Orlando: as reported at the time, a family emergency — his brother’s cancer diagnosis — took him home to be with his family.
📍 Kamal Elgargni in 2026
Elgargni has not competed since that Masters Olympia win in August 2023 — but he has never announced his retirement, and he is still deep in the sport from his base in Tampa, Florida.
Through 2025 and into 2026 he worked as a coach and training partner to Open star Andrew Jacked, a run that included Jacked’s record-breaking wins at the 2026 Arnold Classic in the USA and the Arnold Classic UK. In May 2026, speaking on The Menace Podcast, Elgargni said the partnership had ended, claiming he had not been paid for his work — his version of events, aired publicly, and the last update on the split. 🤝
As a competitor, he announced on the Cutler Cast Podcast in December 2025 that he was targeting a comeback at the 2026 Tampa Pro: “I didn’t quit. I still want to compete.” The Tampa show came and went in August 2026 without his name in the official results, and no new contest has been announced since.
2026 verdict: officially unretired at 54, turning 55 in November 2026 — a two-division Olympia champion whose last stage appearance remains the 2023 Masters Olympia, and whose comeback stays a plan rather than a date. 🎯
📊 Contest Record
| Year | Contest | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Libyan Championship (70 kg) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2001 | NABBA Mr. Universe (Short class) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2002 | NABBA World Championships (Overall) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2003 | IFBB Night of Champions | 21st (did not place) |
| 2003 | IFBB World Amateur Championships (Middleweight) | Disqualified |
| 2005 | IFBB World Amateur Championships (Middleweight) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2005 | World Games (Middleweight) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2006 | Asian Games (Middleweight) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2006 | IFBB World Amateur Championships (Middleweight) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2008 | IFBB World Amateur Championships (Middleweight) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2009 | Arnold Amateur (Light-Heavyweight) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2009 | World Games (Heavyweight) | 2nd |
| 2011 | WBPF World Championships (Light-Heavyweight) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2013 | IFBB World Amateur Championships (Light-Heavyweight) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2018 | Arnold Classic (212) | 1st 🏆 |
| 2018 | Mr. Olympia (212) | 3rd |
| 2019 | Mr. Olympia (212) | 1st 🏆 212 Mr. Olympia |
| 2020 | Mr. Olympia (212) | 2nd |
| 2021 | Mr. Olympia (212) | 3rd |
| 2022 | Tampa Pro (Men’s Open) | 2nd |
| 2022 | Texas Pro (Men’s Open) | 4th |
| 2022 | Mr. Olympia (212) | 3rd |
| 2023 | Masters Olympia (Men’s Open) | 1st 🏆 |
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How many Olympia titles has Kamal Elgargni won?
Two, in two different divisions: the 212 Mr. Olympia in 2019 and the Masters Olympia Men’s Open title in 2023. He is only the second man, after Dexter Jackson, to win Olympia titles in two divisions.
How old was Kamal Elgargni when he won the 212 Olympia?
He was 47 when he won the 212 Mr. Olympia in September 2019, and 51 when he won the Masters Olympia in August 2023. His IFBB Pro League debut had come only a year before the title, at the 2018 Arnold Classic, when he was 46.
Why did Kamal Elgargni turn pro so late?
By his own account, a federation ban kept him out. After years as a world-champion amateur representing Qatar, he says the IFBB banned him in 2011 amid a drug-testing dispute — without a positive test — and that a lifetime ban followed in 2013. The ban was lifted after the 2018 IFBB split, and he finally received his pro card.
Did Kamal Elgargni compete at the 2023 Mr. Olympia?
No. His Masters Olympia win qualified him for the 2023 Mr. Olympia in both the Open and 212 divisions, but he withdrew before the show to be with his family during a family emergency, as reported at the time.
Is Kamal Elgargni retired?
Not officially. He has not competed since August 2023, but in December 2025 he said on the Cutler Cast Podcast, “I didn’t quit. I still want to compete,” and targeted the 2026 Tampa Pro. He did not appear in that show’s official results, and no comeback date has been announced.
What is Kamal Elgargni doing in 2026?
He lives and trains in Tampa, Florida. Through 2025 and into 2026 he coached and trained alongside Andrew Jacked, including Jacked’s 2026 Arnold Classic wins; in May 2026 he said publicly that the partnership had ended. He turns 55 on November 21, 2026.
🏁 Final Word
Kamal Elgargni’s career bends every rule of bodybuilding timing. Sixteen years an amateur, banned when he asked to turn pro, and then — given one fair chance at 46 — an Arnold Classic winner, a 212 Mr. Olympia at 47, and a Masters Olympia champion at 51.
Five Olympia appearances in the 212, five podiums. Two Olympia titles in two divisions, a feat only Dexter Jackson had managed before him. Whenever the comeback comes — if it comes — the Libyan Lion has already proved his point. 🦁