Luke Stoltman has withdrawn from Europe’s and World’s Strongest Man after suffering a horror leg break.
The British and European champion was filming a YouTube video with brother Tom and Canadian creator Will Tennyson when the grisly injury occurred.
He explained that a routine jump into the water at Balintore Harbour in Easter Ross went badly wrong after he misjudged the depth.
“My right leg snapped when I landed in the water,” he revealed to fans.
“I stood up and the water was up to about chest height. So yeah, pretty brutal to be honest.”
The Invergordon man mountain – one half of the famous Stoltman brothers – had to walk out of the water and up the steps, admitting that at the time he thought his ankle had “popped”.
However, as he assessed the damage, he felt the bone in his leg “mashing” together.
Doctors confirmed a butterfly fracture of his fibula, spelling a 6–8 week layoff from any serious training. That also rules him out of any upcoming major Strongman events.
Europe’s Strongest Man – a competition Luke Stoltman has won twice – lands in Leeds on 11 April, before the World’s Strongest Man kicks off in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on 23 April.
“At the moment I don’t think it has 100% sunk in,” he added. “I won’t be competing at Europe’s Strongest Man, I won’t be competing at World’s Strongest Man.
“It is a huge blow because big Tommy and I have been working really hard, and I felt really good about my training in the last couple of weeks.
“These things happen for reasons unbeknown to us. Maybe I’ll never know the reason why this happened, but I’ve got to have that faith.”
Luke Stoltman’s Lucky Escape
Doctors feared the combination of Stoltman’s 155kg frame and 4 metre drop into the harbour could have caused further damage to his pelvis and spine.
Thankfully, further X-rays and CT scans confirmed the leg break was the full extent of the damage.
“Thinking about it now, it could have been so bad,” Stoltman continued.
“It’s my own fault, I should have been a lot smarter and thought, ‘this looks a little bit lower.’
“I should have gone down the steps, jumped in and had a little check of the depth there.
“I’m really annoyed at myself, because it’s not just me that this effects. It’s the whole team that we’ve got, it’s my son, it’s my partner, it’s family who are worrying.
“But I’m so fortunate that I’m OK and sat here able to talk to you guys.”
While he’s concerned about the toll that not being able to train will take on his mental health, Luke Stoltman says he’s “very confident” of coming back stronger.
He’ll still be at the World’s Strongest Man later this month, supporting Tom on his quest to become a four-time champion.
As for when we’ll see Luke return to the Strongman fold, he’s pencilled in the Glasgow edition of Giants Live in October as a potential comeback date.
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