World’s strongest man, super Scot Tom Stoltman, had to pull out of Europe’s Strongest Man competition after testing positive for Covid-19 – but it left the way open for his brother Luke to claim the title.
Tom, from Invergordon, was due to compete at this year’s Euro competition in Leeds at the weekend.
But the 27-year-old will now prepare for his bid for the Scottish crown while he isolates at home.
Tom revealed he had tested positive for the virus after his wife Sinead had received the same result on Thursday.
And in him and his brother Luke’s latest video on YouTube, he insisted he would now use the unexpected spare time wisely.
He said: “Sinead got Covid on Thursday, and I got it on Thursday night.
“So unfortunately, for safety, I will not be competing down at the weekend. I feel for me it’s like a cold but Sinead has been hit hard with it.
“We’re just going to try and stay safe and then we’re going to be there at Scotland.
“I have to quarantine until Wednesday or Thursday next week and I still haven’t had a lot of time to train for Scotland.
“For me it’s beneficial because I didn’t have the best prep for Europe anyway. Two weeks aren’t enough for me.”
Luke said: “Tom’s had a bit of a nightmare – he’s got pinged-up and he’s done a Covid test and come back positive. Unfortunately Tom’s having to isolate.”
At this year’s World’s Strongest Men competition in Sacremento, USA, in June, Tom won three of the six events in the final to finish top overall with 45.5 points.
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