Two-time World Strongest Man winner Tom Stoltman is looking to start 2024 off with a big win. After Mitchell Hooper robbed him of his World’s Strongest Man hat-trick in 2023, Stoltman has been hungry to reclaim his crown. Now, with a week left to go for Britain’s Strongest Man contest, the 6’8 Scottish strongman made a statement with his latest lift.

Earlier, the 418-pound strongman lifted more than double his body weight in the gym. Stoltman’s mindboggling display of strength was an exercise in confidence and a message for his opponents. The former WSM winner is ready to go all out at BSM and aims to become the man to beat at the start of the 2024 competitive season.

Making an 881 lbs deadlift look easy

You might be thinking that many elite strongmen have lifted 881 lbs. Strongmen like Eddie Hall, Hafthor Bjornsson, and Stoltman himself have even broken the 1000 lbs barrier. However, that was their one rep max. No strongman regularly lifts 1000 lbs in training either. Stoltmans’s 881 lbs deadlift is so impressive because he got four reps.

What makes it even more mind-boggling is the fact that he did it at the end of his workout. “Biggest deadlift training cycle I’ve done! 400kg x 4 to end the block!” the strongman wrote in the caption. Wearing wrist wraps and a weight belt, the strongman walked up to the bar and began lifting like his life depended on it.

Stoltman’s form didn’t break down, although his knees buckled. Nor did the strongman drop the weight during the last rep. As insane as it sounds, the former World’s Strongest Man lifted an insane 3,524 lbs total in one set. “I’m coming in motivated and focused. See you guys on the 27th,” as he signed off on his final training session before the competition. Yet Stoltman wasn’t this confident when he started lifting weights.

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How Autism changed Tom Stoltman’s life

While the 29-year-old might be among the strongest men on the planet today, he was a skinny football (soccer) player at one point. Stoltman wanted to become a professional footballer. However, being on the autism spectrum didn’t do the strongman any favors. Constant bullying and lackluster academic performance pushed him into depression.

Tom Stoltman’s circumstances led him to the gym. Yet, the strongman credits the gym for saving his life. The characteristics of autism that made Stoltman “tunnel-visioned” in school helped him focus and excel in strength sports. After all, you need a tunnel vision-like mind-muscle connection when you lift 881 lbs four times in a row.

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