The 2024 competitive strongman season ended with the 2024 Official Strongman Games (OSG). While many in the strength space know to watch 2024 Strongest Man on Earth (SMoE) Mitchell Hooper, 2018 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) Hafthor Björnsson, three-time reigning WSM champion Tom Stoltman, and big names due for huge seasons like 2024 Magnus Ver Magnusson Strongman Classic (MVMSC) champion Mateusz Kieliszkowski, many names posted quality 2024 seasons that might now have as much limelight as they should.
In late December 2024, 2016, Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM) champion Laurence Shahlaei shared that he thinks the top seven strongmen are to watch in 2025.
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1. Rayno Nel
Rayno Nel arguably had the best year outside the Giants Live circuit before winning the 2024 Africa’s Strongest Man (ASM) contest. Hailing from South Africa, Nel competed in five contests in 2024. He won four of them and narrowly missed the podium in the fifth.
2024 Season Results
- 2024 Siberian Power Show — Fourth Place
- 2024 Strongman Champions League (SCL) Holland — First Place
- 2024 SCL Africa — First Place
- 2024 SCL World Finals — First Place
- 2024 Africa’s Strongest Man — First Place
2. Nick Guardione
Nick Guardione of the USA competed in three major contests in 2024. He podiumed all of them, taking home two golds and a silver — the best performance by an amateur strongman all season.
Guardione won the 2024 Arnold Amateur Strongman World Championships (AASWC) and the 2024 OSG and silvered in the Men’s Open class at the 2024 Shaw Classic.
3. Josh Spurgeon
Although Josh Spurgeon’s 2024 results were as decorated as Nel’s or Guardione’s, the one blemish on Guardione’s 2024 season is thanks to Spurgeon.
Spurgeon’s lone contest win of the season came at the 2024 Shaw Classic Men’s Open, which notably qualified him for the 2025 SMoE contest. Additionally, he won the bronze at the 2024 AASWC.
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4. Bryce Johnson
Bryce Johnson is a physically dominant figure on the competitive stage, and Shahlaei has expectations that are just as big for him in 2025. Johnson only competed twice in 2024 and did not stand atop a podium. However, he did rank second at the 2024 OSG and narrowly missed the podium at the 2024 North America’s Strongest Man (NASM) contest.
5. Tim Buck
Tim Buck competed three times in 2024. He failed to take home a gold throughout the season but nailed a spot on every podium — bronze at the 2024 Shaw Classic Men’s Open, silver at the 2024 America’s Strongest Man (ASM) contest, and bronze at the 2024 OSG. He is qualified to compete on the Giants Live circuit in 2025.
6. Andrew Burton
USA’s Andrew Burton’s entire competitive strongman resume is from 2024. Across four contests, he podiumed half of them and ranked in the top five of the remaining two.
Burton opened 2024 with a runner-up finish at the 2024 AASWC. He ranked fifth in the 2024 Shaw Classic Men’s Open and fourth in the 2024 ASM before bumping back onto the podium via bronze at the 2024 MVMSC.
7. Roman Grekov
Ukraine’s Roman Grekov made three major contest appearances in 2024 and won two of them—the 2024 OSG European Championships and the 2024 European Strongman Cup. He ranked 10th of 12 at the 2024 Giants Live World Tour Finals, but getting experience against those at the sport’s top is valuable heading into the 2025 season.
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Featured image: @biglozwsm on Instagram
