Defending World’s Strongest Man Tom Stoltman and older brother Luke Stoltman both well placed to reach 2025 final as Invergordon strongmen kick off qualifying stage
The Stoltman brothers are well placed to reach the final of the 2025 World’s Strongest Man after the first day of qualifiers.
The competition this year has undergone a format change with the number of athletes taking part being reduced from 30 to 25 – split into five groups of five.
Unlike in previous editions, after the fourth qualifying event the athlete in first place will no longer automatically go through to the final, and second and third place will no longer compete against each other in the stone-off.
Instead, athletes will have to complete all five events to decide the two qualifiers from each group.
As the athletes who made it to the final competed in the same events, their performances in the heats events will then be compared. This will then lead to the best-performing athlete going into the final with 10 points, with each step down in place earning one less point than the previous.
Tom Stoltman (30) regained his World's Strongest Man title last year by 6.5 points from 2023 World's Strongest Man Mitchell Hooper from Canada, adding to his previous titles from 2021 and 2022.
He has been in the final six times, and is leading the charge to make it to this year’s final with the most points of any athlete so far.
In the opening loading medley, Tom managed four reps in a time of 38.71 seconds, earning him the full five points.
He then managed seven reps in the deadlift, sharing 4.5 points with Australian strongman Eddie Williams, before again besting his rivals in the overhead medley with seven reps in 56.95 seconds.
That puts Tom at the top of his qualifying group, five points clear of anyone else, and also at the top of the overall leaderboard putting him in prime contention to start the final with 10 points.
Older brother Luke Stoltman (40) is also well in contention to reach his sixth final in his 10th appearance at the competition. His four reps in the loading medley in 41.21 seconds earned four points, before a disappointing outcome in the deadlift as he managed two reps – the lowest return in his qualifying group.
Luke bounced back well though, earning another four points in the overhead medley with six reps in 49.98 seconds.
That puts him on 10 points after three events, level with fellow Brit Andrew Flynn and 3.5 points behind group leader Pavlo Kordiyaka from Ukraine.
American Nick Guardione is also in contention in that group, currently sitting on 8.5 points, with another US strongman Evan Singleton in that group withdrawing from the competition.
Qualifying continues from 6pm BST tonight, with the final two events being the titan’s toss and stone medley.
