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'MODERN-DAY SUPERHERO'
World’s Strongest Man Tom Stoltman aims to use ‘superpower’ to inspire autism and mental health awareness
Tom and Luke spoke with The U.S. Sun following this month's finals
REIGNING World's Strongest Man Tom Stoltman is looking to use his platform to impact more than just the strength community.
Just the seventh strongman to be crowned the World's Strongest Man three times in the competition's 47-year history, 29-year-old Tom has more than left his mark on the sport.
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Together with his older brother and fellow strongman Luke, who finished ninth at WSM and won Europe's Strongest Man a month prior, the duo recently returned to Scotland following Tom's latest triumph.
WORLD'S STRONGEST BROTHERS
Known as the "World's Strongest Brothers," the Stoltmans spoke with The U.S. Sun to discuss what has been a whirlwind couple of months.
"To hand over the biggest title in our sport to my baby brother was pretty special and to see Tom dominate this year at World's Strongest Man was just unreal," Luke admitted.
"So it doesn't quite feel like it's real. But the trophy cabinet would attest that it's very real.
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"It's getting bigger by the bigger every competition, which is pretty cool."
And "dominate" is exactly what Tom did, finishing with 53 points in the Finals, 5.5 ahead of Canada's Mitchell Hooper (the reigning champion) in second, and 17 points ahead of America's Evan Singleton in third.
This latest result means Tom has now finished in the top two in his last five consecutive appearances at WSM.
Together, the Stoltman brothers have now won WSM three times, ESM twice, Britain's Strongest Man three times, Scotland's Strongest Man seven times, and the Giant's Live World Tour Finals twice.
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The combined success of Tom and Luke has led to their fair share of notoriety away from the arena.
Their YouTube channel has 251,000 subscribers, while combined, they have over 860,000 Instagram followers and more than 190,000 followers on TikTok across both profiles.
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'MODERN-DAY SUPERHERO'
They've been able to use their platforms to help promote the sport, grow their own Stoltman brand, and arguably most importantly, help others living with autism and mental health issues.
Tom, who has autism, said that helping others like himself "means more than titles."
"There's one day a year if you're celebrating Mental Health Day or Autism Awareness Day.
"And for me, it's like, 'Why do it once?' If you go to the gym once in your life, you're not going to change.
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"So by helping someone one day of the year, you're not going to help them.
"So that's why I did it. When my first World Strongest Man title, it didn't have a label anymore, I called it a superpower.
"Then I started just using my profile to build the brand and build the superpower thing."
For Tom, this has led to people coming out to meet him at the gym and expos, people "that never ever come out the house and go, 'This kid's here just to see you.'"
These people open up to Tom, saying how much he's helped their child, or how their partner has subsequently opened up to them about their own autism.
When my first World Strongest Man title, it didn't have a label anymore, I called it a superpower.
Tom Stoltman
"So all this kind of stuff, it's very, very, emotional as well, because it really is kind of a powerful thing that I'm able to go and show my autism in a different way than how a lot of kind of people label it," he added.
As for Luke, who has been very upfront with his mental health battles, he was clearly full of admiration for his younger brother who he described as a "modern-day superhero."
"I think Tom's like that modern day superhero that kids kind of look up to and aspire to be and, um, and I think that helps get other people into the sport," he said.
Luke also noted that whenever they spot a fan wearing their branded clothes, "that feels really nice for us and to see them represent the brand, the name Stoltman, it's not just a name."
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He believes the family name represents "hard work and resilience and kind of determination and hopefully being a good person."
Luke wanted their fans to feel "empowered," adding, "if they've got autism, if they've got mental health issues, to go out and fight that and find a way of coping with those things, just like Tom has over the years."
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