Little-known former rugby star Rayno Nel, 30, makes history as he wins World's Strongest Man in FIRST YEAR competing
Nel, 30, managed to get the job done despite a slow start on Sunday in Sacramento, California.
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Former rugby player Rayno Nel won World's Strongest Man on his debut
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Nel made history as he became the first contestant from Africa to win World's Strongest Man
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Nel maintained his supremacy in the final after winning his group in the Qualifying Stage
The strongman made history as he became the first contestant from Africa to win in his first year.
The South African maintained his supremacy in the final after winning his group in the Qualifying Stage.
Nel prevailed in the Knaack Carry & Hoist as he finished first in the division.
He also finished second in the 18th Max Deadlift and Hercules Hold.
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Nel snatched third place in the Atlas Stone and finished fifth in the Flintstone Press Max.
His performance led to immense praise from fans worldwide on social media.
One supporter tweeted: "What a performance."
Another commented: "Seriously impressive."
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A third wrote: "Well done Rayno."
This fan said: "Awesome job."
And that one stated: "Fantastic! Congratulations!"
Nel started
his career at rugby playing for the
Central University of Technology
and
Free State Cheetahs in South Africa before moving to strongman in 2023.
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RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
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Australia's 38-22 win against the Springboks in Ellis Park must be one of the most unpredicted outcomes in quite some time. Sport can be fascinating. Two teams will go head-to-head and predictions are made based on the form guides and the evidence that went before. You could be in both camps listening to the preparations and you might still come out on the wrong side of the prediction. Yet, most people aren't privy to the preparation behind the scenes and we still try to make sense of ties based on the physical attributes of players, and where we believe their mental state is at. In reality, player and group mentality is where shock results happen. The mental game can't paper over cracks in the longer term, the tangibles such as physical attributes and tactical strategy of the team will guide the results across a longer period of time. However, on any given day, the mental state of a team can lead to shocks, upsets and outlier results. What's even more difficult to understand is how games can swing so heavily when the momentum has already been established. South Africa were the world number one team, at home in Ellis Park, a ground that Australia had failed to win at in 62 years. The Springboks raced into an easy 22-0 lead within 18 minutes. It was a long way back for Joe Schmidt's side, but somehow, they slowly turned momentum and glided their way to a historic evening for Australian rugby. It's one thing to race out of the blocks and catch the favourites cold. But to turn the heavy momentum with 38 unanswered points is truly astounding. The back-to-back world champions scored with their first possession. They beat Australia in the aerial and kicking battle for 20 minutes and they physically manhandled their opponents. However, Australia stayed in the fight and continued to compete. They stole South African lineouts, an area where the Springboks are usually superior, and they competed for the ball at the breakdown, mainly through Fraser McReight. The shift happened quite slowly, from stemming the South African flow, to rebuilding their own game. Yes, there were tactical and strategical moments, but you'd have to ask questions of what happened to the mindset on both sides. South Africa threw the ball around far more than we're used to. Maybe they're building something two years out from the next World Cup, and maybe we'll look back at how they pulled it all together in time to compete for their third World Cup win on the trot. Or maybe, they became complacent because they started so quickly. It's hard to tell. Sometimes even the players competing can't explain it, but the momentum shift happens and it can be difficult to stop. If anyone had watched the Lions series, you'd see that this Australian group get stronger during games, not weaker. Despite being at altitude, the Aussies grew more and more into the game as time went on, and the air was being sucked out of the home team. South Africa played a style of rugby that their club teams can identify with, and maybe some of Tony Brown's other attacking teams in the past can identify with, but not South Africa. They regularly threw a deep pass to Manie Libbok, who threw another 10-metre deep pass to whichever centre was available. They then tried to play off the second pair of hands. This is unlike the effective and efficient South Africa that we know. I paused the game at one stage to see if I was seeing things correctly. South African ball-players and carriers were receiving the ball 20 metres behind where the tackle line was formed from the ruck. South Africa have some of the most dangerous wingers in world rugby. I can understand why they would form a strategy to attack teams in the wider channels, particularly with the way defences are set up in a narrow and aggressive nature these days. Nonetheless, it goes against their very effective identity of being confrontational at the tackle line. Their centres usually create an awful lot of physical destruction in the middle of the field, before they unleash the rest of their attacking threats afterwards. Andre Esterhuizen and Jesse Kriel (above) are frightening in the midfield channel, yet Esterhuizen was being used in a distribution role. You'd normally see an Owen Farrell or Matt Giteau in a distribution role in midfield, but not the South African centres. At 22-0, South Africa didn't need to prove anything, and they normally don't. They punish teams continuously until they've broken their spirit. This didn't feel the same. And unfortunately for Rassie Erasmus and his coaches, it wasn't all in their control. 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Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Campese eating humble pie as Wallabies get ready for Boks backlash
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Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Stunning Australia comeback shocks South Africa in Ellis Park
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