Tom Stoltman has just missed out on a place in the 2026 World’s Strongest Man final.
Injury Impacts Stoltman’s Performance
The Invergordon native tore a callous on his hand in the first event of qualifying. This affected his result in the carry and climb and turned out to be a difference maker.
That meant Stoltman went into the second day of qualifying knowing he had to reel in New Zealand athlete Mathew Ragg or Mexico’s Austin Andrade to make it through to this weekend’s final.
Truck Pull Results
His first chance to do that was in the truck pull, where athletes had to pull a 25,000 kilogram truck for 25 meters in the shortest time possible.
Stoltman’s time of 37.59 seconds put him in the middle of the pack in his group, but crucially Ragg had the worst time of his direct competitors of 38.69 seconds.
Andrade was out in front, securing his place in the final, but going into the final qualifying event Stoltman was only two points behind Ragg, giving him every chance of making it through.
Stone Medley Decider
The final event, which also served as a tie-breaker if necessary, was the natural stone medley.
That consists of four parts: the 158kg Stone to Shoulder, the 177kg Stone Carry, the 136kg and 113kg Webster Stone Walk, and finally the 182kg Stone Load.
Stoltman managed to complete the first three in a time of 50.16 seconds, which was over 32 seconds ahead of Ragg.
However, the rest of the group’s performances meant that Stoltman only earned one more point than the New Zealander, missing out on the final by just a single point as Ragg joined Andrade in the final from the group.
It is the first time since 2017 – his World’s Strongest Man debut – that Stoltman has not made it through qualifying, having finished inside the top two in each of the last six years.