Rob Orlando was known as the Strongman of CrossFit back in the day. Orlando competed at the CrossFit Games four times in his career, three as an individual and once in the 40-44 Masters division. But his biggest challenge was earlier this year when he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in his lower jaw and lymph nodes in his neck.
Orlando received that diagnosis on January 20, 2025. The day before his diagnosis, Orlando set a personal best on his powerlifting total, hitting 1,525 total pounds.
On February 13, Orlando underwent a 13-hour surgery to remove part of his lower jaw. Bone from his fibula was harvested and grafted into his mouth to replace the cancerous portion that was removed.
Fast forward 75 days and Orlando is still experiencing numbness and paralysis in the lower right side of his face. He still has no feeling in his left foot due to the surgery on his fibula and he has nerve damage in his right trap and shoulder.
Despite all of this, Orlando was able to get his doctors to get back into the gym three weeks after his surgery. Six weeks after his surgery Orlando back squatted 500 pounds. Remember, he didn’t, and still doesn’t, have any feeling in his left foot.
And in March Orlando began daily radiation, weekly chemotherapy, speech and physical therapy and IV hydration sessions.
As for his gym, Hybrid Athletics, members and coaches have taken the reins to keep the gym running in Orlando’s absence. “There’s simply no way I could properly articulate my gratitude towards these incredible human beings at the bottom of an already too long Instagram post,” shared Orlando.
Orlando competed at the CrossFit Games three consecutive years from 2009 to 2011. His best finish was 15th in 2010.
Orlando was also the man behind the design of the Pig that was used in the Burden Run at the 2013 CrossFit Games.
