It has been announced that Rayno Nel will not take part in the 2025 Strongest Man on Earth competition.
The event is scheduled to take place between August 16th and 17th, in Loveland CO. During a recent interview with Brian Shaw, he listed a few reasons. Rayno has other priorities to attend to such as his family, job, and overall life balance.
He felt that if he did participate in the event and if he wasn’t at his peak physical fitness, there would be a greater risk of injury. If an injury occurred at a competition like this it could be damaging for the rest of the year of training.
Rayno Nel participated in two events this year, one in Holland for the SCL (Strongman Champions League). Then he was also present in Italy. There is a lot of admiration for him within the community, especially when it comes to realizing that it’s ok to take a back seat and enjoy other aspects of life.
From what Rayno has stated about his absence from this penultimate event, it is very clear his want for future success is still ripe and full of passion. In his mind, ensuring his recovery between competing allows his body and mind to be ready, rather than compete at any less than 100%.
Rayno Nel has claimed the title of African and South African strongest man title twice. He’s not short of a few victories. This hasn’t quenched his hunger for more though, he is till eager to compete in more events in the future, permitting his schedule allows him.
As well as being a word class strongest man, he also runs his own engineering firm in South Africa. His background in rugby in his university years definitely set him up with skills and lessons to succeed at the highest level within Strong Man events. It taught him to take care of himself and that some injuries will halt or finish progress. Sadly, he injured himself in his final year of university, it was his knee, a rather key element of rugby and powerlifting.
In his interview with Brian Shaw, he stated that the Strongest Man on Earth competition would be “demanding” and “difficult”. But he was still excited and grateful to receive the invitation. He only started competing in 2023, so to get this far in this short space of time is very commendable, and a route that has required a lot balance.
Brian Shaw sounded optimistic for the direction of the South African’s career, especially in regards to his decision to step out and compete next year. Giving Rayno the chance to personally speak out about his reasons behind this, it shows he wants to be very transparent with his fans and supporters.
It also allows people to get know him and understand his background, training and goals. Making this kind of decision certainly wasn’t an easy one but it may prove to be wise one in the long run.
