LISTEN – World's strongest man Tom Stoltman wants to go down in history as one of the greatest
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Tom Stoltman says he wants to go down in history as one of the greatest world’s strongest men champions.
Listen to the full interview on Balls and Whistles podcast below.
The Invergordon athlete became the first Scottish man to win the World’s Strongest Man competition in Sacramento, California on Sunday.
But the 27-year-old says while enjoying his incredible victory last weekend, he is already looking forward to defending his title next year.
He is aiming to become world champion a few more times during his career. He says he would love to be among the legends in the sport, such as five-times champion Mariusz Pudzianowski of Poland as well as four-times champions Žydrunas Savickas of Lithuania, American Brian Shaw and Magnus Ver Magnusson of Iceland.
“I’m not going to lie, this has opened up massive doors for myself, my wife, and my family,” said Stoltman.
“I love the sport, and I want to keep competing.
“But I want to become the greatest in the sport, and I want to win four or five strongest man titles.
“I would love to be in the same league as those men.”
Stoltman returned to Invergordon in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and says he has been blown away by the reaction he has received.
“It has been non-stop, as we have done lots of interviews and had people at the house interviewing my wife.
“People were stopping me when they were walking and cycling by wanting to get photos with me.
“It is massive achieving the title, but you don’t realise how big it is until you actually get back home and people keep talking about it.
“It has been emotional and overwhelming for me.”
Stoltman, who has autism, first got involved in the sport encouraged by his older brother Luke to take up strongman events in a bid to get out and try something new.
He says he owes his older brother everything.
“With my autism I started locking myself away as all my mates went off to college and university and I stopped playing football.
“That was when I was 17, Luke said to come to the gym and see if things change.
“The first year I was seeing changes in my body and getting more comfortable with myself and ended up loving it.
“Luke became my coach and mentor at the gym and it changed my life as I gained more confidence in and out of the gym.
“We always said if one of us won the title, we would win the title, and he said he is the proudest guy in the world.
“As soon as I lifted that winning stone he came running over. It means as much to Luke as it does to me. This is a victory for both of us.”
Stoltman’s next competition is in London in July and he is looking forward to meeting his fans.
“I will be competing at the Royal Albert Hall in four weeks’ time and it is the first time Strongman is going to be there,” he said.
“I want to go down there and meet some fans and have some fun.”
