Tom Stoltman misses out on World's Strongest Man title by just 0.48 seconds with own BROTHER wrecking dream
The 30-year-old Scot missed out on the trophy by a HALF A POINT, with South Africa's Rayno Nel taking home the win in Sacramento, California.
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Stoltman put in a Herculean effort to reduce the final day deficit between himself and Nel.
But ironically, it was the Hercules hold that cost him the competition.
Tom received three points for holding the mammoth 160kg pillars for 31.82 seconds.
Stoltman's older brother, Luke, performed better in the gruelling task, receiving the four points for a 32:30-second hold.
So that meant Tom's dreams of a fourth title were inadvertently dashed by his older sibling, who held the pillars 0.48 seconds longer than he did.
Tom ended the final day with a points tally of 46.5.
Competition winner Nel, who won the tournament in his DEBUT, finished with 47 points.
Luke, meanwhile, finished with 21.5 points to his name.
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Tom's heartache was somewhat soothed by the fact he moved a step closer to making yet more strongman history.
His second-placed finish was his sixth podium appearance in the competition.
It saw him move level with Brit icon Geoff Capes and Icelandic giant Magnus Ver Magnusson.
Tom won the World's Strongest Man in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
He regained the title last year from 2023 tournament winner Mitchell Hooper.
Five-time finalist Luke, who was competing in the tournament for the tenth time in his career, finished in ninth place.
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