Tom Stoltman continues to be a force to be reckoned with by winning the 2022 Britain's Strongest Man. The 27 years old was able to successfully defend his Britain's Strongest Man title on February 26th,2022 in Sheffield, England, at the Utilita Arena. To top off his legendary feat, he pulled off the win against 10 fierce competitors in the world of strongmen.
2022 Britain's Strongest Man Results & Recap
Tom dominated the entire competition by placing first in four of the five events, making him the first person to win the BSM back to back since Eddie Hall won five consecutive titles from 2014 to 2018. The top three podium finishers all qualified for the 2022 World's Strongest Man contest on May 24-29th, 2022, in Sacramento, CA.
Eleven competitors took the stage. The winner of each event earned 11 points, the second-place finisher got 10, and so on down the line. Ties resulted in half points (e.g., a tie for first among two men would result in 10.5 points)
- Tom Stoltman — 53.5 points
- Pa O'Dwyer — 41.5 points
- Adam Bishop — 38.5 points
- Shane Flowers — 35.5 points
- Paul Smith — 32.5 points
- Andy Black — 30.5 points
- Ryan England — 20.5 points
- Mark Felix — 19.5 points
- Mark Steele — 18 points
- Luke Stoltman — 13.5 points**
- Desmond Gahan — 9.5 points**
** These people withdrew from the contest at some point.
2022 Britain's Strongest Man Event Recap
We covered each event in the competition below so you know how the event played out. As you'll see below, Tom "The Albatross" Stoltman was flying high throughout the competition.
Shield Carry for Distance
The Shield Carry was the starting event where competitors lifted and carried a 440 pound (200-kilogram) shield for as far as they could before dropping it.
Tom Stoltman came out of the gate ready to prove himself again, breaking the Giants Live World Record with a distance of 214.2 feet (65.3 meters) Pa O'Dwyer narrowly missed first with a carry of 203.9 feet (62.15 meters). Tom's brother, Luke Stoltman, closed out the top three by carrying the shield a little over 50 meters.
Shield Carry Standings:
- Tom Stoltman — 65.3 meters
- Pa O'Dwyer — 62.15 meters
- Luke Stoltman — 50.25 meters
- Paul Smith — 45.8 meters
- Desmond Gahan — 45.2 meters
- Adam Bishop — 40 meters
- Andy Black — 35 meters
- Mark Felix — 32 meters
- Ryan England — 25.1 meters
- Shane Flowers — 21.1 meters
- Mark Steele — 11.55 meters
Axle Deadlift for Reps
Up next on the event sheet, athletes deadlifted 793.8 pounds (360 kilograms) on an axle barbell from the floor for as many reps as possible within a 60 second time limit.
Before this event, Luke and Desmond withdrew from the competition. The reasoning behind them leaving is unknown. This left nine competitors competing for the title of BSM.
Tom Stoltman wasn't willing to slow down and could complete six reps before the time ran out. Adam Bishop, the 2020 BSM champion, wasn't willing to back down and was able to tie Tom for first. O'Dwyer, Flowers, Andy Black, and Mark Felix got four reps. Third, through, six place points were added and split evenly between the final four strongmen.
Axle Deadlift Standings:
- Tom Stoltman — 6 reps
- Adam Bishop — 6 reps (tie for 1st)
- Pa O'Dwyer — 4 reps
- Shane Flowers — 4 reps (tie for 3rd)
- Andy Black — 4 reps (tie for 3rd)
- Mark Felix — 4 reps (tie for 3rd)
- Paul Smith — 2 reps
- Luke Stoltman — 2 reps (tie for 7th)
- Ryan England — 1 rep
- Desmond Gahan — 1 rep (tie for 9th)
- Mark Steele — No Attempt
Axle Press for Reps
The third event of the day was another axle event. Again, athletes pressed 341.7 pounds (155 Kilograms) over their heads for reps with a 60 second time limit.
Tom once again pulled off a first-place finish, as he was the only one to pull off five reps with the weight. For second place, five of the men, O'Dwyer, Bishop, Paul Smith, Ryan England, and Mark Steels, were able to get four repetitions. For third place, the only other person to complete some reps was Shane, who could get two reps.
Axle Press Standings:
- Tom Stoltman — 5 reps
- Pa O'Dwyer — 4 reps
- Adam Bishop — 4 reps (tie for 2nd)
- Paul Smith — 4 reps (tie for 2nd)
- Ryan England — 4 reps (tie for 2nd)
- Mark Steele — 4 reps (tie for 2nd)
- Shane Flowers — 2 reps
- Andy Black — 0
- Mark Felix — 0
Sandbag Toss
The Sandbag Toss was the second to last event for the day. Athletes were given a 60-second time frame to toss six sandbags, ranging in weight from 39.7 pounds to 61.7 pounds (18 to 28 kilograms), over a high crossbar at 14.7 feet (4.5 meters) (14.7 feet). The goal is to be the man with the fastest time to complete all the sandbag tosses. The winner is the man to toss the most bags in the fastest time.
For the first time in this competition, Tom couldn't pull off a first-place finish. Shane Flowers crushed this event by breezing through all six bags in less than 19 seconds. Stoltman still placed second, and he held on to a nine-point lead going into the final event. Andy Black was the only other man to successfully toss all six bags over the bar, placing him third in this event.
Sandbag Toss Standings:
- Shane Flowers — 6 in 18.38 seconds
- Tom Stoltman — 6 in 22.4 seconds
- Andy Black — 6 in 49.17 seconds
- Pa O'Dwyer — 5 in 13.64 seconds
- Adam Bishop — 5 in 33.35 seconds
- Paul Smith — 4 in 13.5 seconds
- Mark Steele — 4 in 14.44 seconds
- Ryan England — 4 in 15.2 seconds
- Mark Felix — 4 in 21.97 seconds
Atlas Stones
Saving the best for last is a strongman favorite, the Atlas Stones. The contestants had to lift five stones, ranging from 264 to 440 pounds (120 to 200 kilograms), to each of their respective podiums in one minute.
With Tom Stoltman in such a commanding lead and his best event being the final one, his victory seemed pretty much on lockdown. However, Tom lived up to his reputation and breezed through all five stones in less than 22 seconds to win the event and his second straight BSM title.
The runner-up in this event was Flowers, who also lifted all five stones in 28.35 seconds. The third went to Andy, who completed the task in 30.57 seconds.
Atlas Stone Standings:
- Tom Stoltman — 5 in 21.57 seconds
- Shane Flowers — 5 in 28.35 seconds
- Andy Black — 5 in 30.57 seconds
- Pa O'Dwyer — 5 in 32.05 seconds
- Adam Bishop — 5 in 33.01 seconds
- Paul Smith — 5 in 38.38 seconds
- Mark Felix — 4 in 22.65 seconds
- Mark Steele — 4 in 29.59 seconds
- Ryan England — 4 in 31.55 seconds
CLOSING THOUGHTS
The next big event on the strongman calendar is the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic, held on the weekend of Mar. 4-5, 2022. We are looking forward to seeing Tom and his fellow competitors at the Arnold Classic challenging each other to reach new heights.
Andrew Lenau
Author