'I'm very lucky' – Kiwi ex-con Rongo Keene proud to represent Australasia in world strongman competition

April 20, 2018

Rongo Keene will head to the Philippines next week to represent Australia and NZ in the World's Strongest Man event.

Rongo Keene has had a few stumbles on his way to representing Australia and New Zealand in the World's Strongest Man competition.

The Kiwi athlete will next week travel to Manila in the Philippines to compete against 30 other man mountains, but just a year ago things didn't look so promising.

He was doing time for assault.

"You do the crime you gotta do the time and that's the law," Keene told Te Karere. 

But he's all focus on the task at hand now, because in this sport there's big consequences for mistakes.

"We do things from pulling trucks, lifting heavy stones, putting 40kgs on our back and going for a walk," Keene says.

"The sport's been around for a long time and I'm very lucky to represent New Zealand and Australia."

But the hardest part of the training isn't even the physical trials.

"The amount of calories we have to consume is crazy," Keene says.

"The guys I'm competing with are consuming about 12,000, I myself around 8000. It's a job itself to eat."

But it will all be worth it if he can triumph over four grueling days in the tropics next week.


 

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