Scot crowned the world’s strong man
Tom Stoltman has become the first Scot to win the World’s Strongest Man title, the man from Invergordon sealing the victory in Sacramento in California.
Stoltman is the first Briton to win since Eddie Hall in 2017. He beat four-time champion Brian Shaw to the crown. The 27-yearold is 6ft 8in and weighs in at a fraction over 28 stone.
Tom Stoltman has become the first Scot to win the World’s Strongest Man title, the man from Invergordon sealing the victory in Sacramento in California.
Stoltman, a massive Rangers fan, is the first Briton to take home the crown since Eddie Hall in 2017 after he beat fourtime winner Brian Shaw to the crown.
The 27-year-old – who stands six feet eight inches tall and weighs in at a fraction over 28 stone – is already a Scotland's Strongest Man title holder and the younger brother of five-times Scotland's Strongest Man Luke Stoltman.
He first competed in the Scotland’s Strongest Man event when he was just 18 and finished in fifth place.
Since then, he’s been crowned the strongest man in Scotland twice, as well as coming second in Britain’s Strongest Man in 2020.
And last year he came second in the delayed World’s Strongest Man competition in November, before going on to beat American legend Shaw during Sunday’s grand finale.
The final became a twohorse race between the giants, but Stoltman ultimately powered his way to take the title in the final event of the Atlas Stones, in which he holds the world record for the heaviest ever lifted at 286kg.
And his Ibrox heroes saluted his success, tweeting: “Congratulations to The World’s Strongest Man from the World’s Most Successful club. @stoltman_tom, one of our own."
Stoltman competes in the sport alongside his older brother Luke.
The pair became known as “the world’s strongest brothers” after becoming the first siblings in history to make it to the final of the World’s Strongest Man in 2019.
Luke recently made the decision to stop working offshore on oil rigs, which he has done since he was 18, to focus on his training.
Stoltman has often opened up about his Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), spreading awareness to his hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers about living with the condition.
He was diagnosed when he was five, and has said it made his childhood difficult. Stoltman kept his autism hidden from his friends until he told them as a teenager.
He has said the disorder helps him to thrive as a professional athlete, calling it his “superpower”.
Speaking last year, he said: “I wanted to make it a bit more vocal, just to let people know I’m not shy, I’m not awkward, it’s just that this is what I’ve got and this is how I live with it.
“I still struggle with it sometimes, I take a lot more time than other people to get some things processed and I’m still kind of nervous about new things.
“I always wanted to be successful for the people that have additional needs. I’ve done a lot of talks on it and I want everyone to know that, just because we’ve got a label on our heads, it doesn’t mean that you are different from anyone else, we’ve just got that additional hurdle we have to get over.”
Stolman – known on the strongman circuit as The Albatross – is a specialist at the Atlas Stones event, lifting and carrying five spherical stones which increase in weight.