Tom Stoltman wins World's Strongest Man competition for third time in four years

Between his two nicknames, Tom Stoltman prefers “The Albatross” more than the “King of the Stones.” For one, the 6-foot-8 strongman enjoys the former because of the reference to his massive wingspan.

“I don’t really care about being ‘King of the Stones,’” Stoltman told USA TODAY Sports on Sunday. “I just want to be ‘King of the World,’ and that’s what I’ve done this weekend.”

Stoltman, 29, wrapped up his third “World’s Strongest Man” title in four years moments earlier. He led the 2024 World's Strongest Man finals for a nearly wire-to-wire victory between the two days of lifting and moving and clinched the championship by winning his signature event, the Atlas Stones.

"I’ve worked for a third title for a while now and to do it before 30 years old is an achievement,” the Scotland native said. “I’m just happy with myself. Happy with my performance. Kept my head.”

Stoltman finished with 53 total points – 5.5 points ahead of second place Mitchell Hooper, the 2023 champion. Hooper could not deny Stoltman another title, like he did a year ago when he prevented Stoltman from pulling off the rare three-peat.

“(It) kind of broke me, not getting that title,” said Stoltman, who finished second in 2023.

But having Hooper in the World’s Strongest Man is “the best thing to happen to me,” Stoltman said. Hooper’s win last year forced Stoltman to improve conditioning for the competition. Stoltman began running – two or three kilometers – every week and began using hyperbaric chambers for recovery. The workload in the gym also slightly increased.

“When we’re both 100 percent, we’re both unbeatable,” Stoltman said. “Fortunately, I topped him in this competition. But he’s going to be back. We’ll be looking to take titles back and forth from each other in the near future.”

Stoltman never finished worse than third in any of the six events over the two-day finals. He tied for the most points in the Max Axle (four reps) and Keg Toss (five reps) on Saturday to put himself into the lead after day one.

Stoltman, who weighs about 400 pounds, is now tied with American Bill Kazmaeir (1980, 1981, 1982) for third on the WSM's all-time winners list. Mariusz Pudzianowski holds the record with five championships, while four others (including American Brian Shaw) have four.

“I want to be the greatest,” Stoltman said. “I don’t even think I’m at my prime.”

Evan Singleton finished in third place as the highest-placing American in the event. He was also the lone American to advance to finals. Singleton finished tied for fourth last year and was the best American then as well.

Luke Stoltman, the brother of Tom, came in ninth place only a few weeks removed from winning Europe's Strongest Man. Their shared YouTube account, “Stoltman Brothers,” has nearly 250,000 subscribers who watch their fitness and gym content. They filmed plenty of behind-the-scenes footage throughout the week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where the WSM was held for the second straight year.

Tom Stoltman has become more active in using their platform to spotlight autism awareness.

“People with autism get labeled as disabled and all that kind of stuff,” Stoltman said. “I wanted it to be a superpower – and look at me. I’m a three-time World’s Strongest Man, living with autism every single day of my life.”

Stoltman said he was looking forward to having an adult beverage Sunday night to celebrate; he’d abstained from alcohol since the fall to enhance his training.

He did not have a booze preference.

“I’m going to have a few drinks tonight 100 percent,” Stoltman said. “I have not (drank) for a long, long time so, yeah, anything that can make me drunk and not remember the night would be good.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tom Stoltman wins 2024 World's Strongest Man competition