LUKE Stoltman has confirmed he has been forced to pull out of 2026 World’s Strongest Man after breaking his leg.
The Invergordon athlete confirmed the news on the Stoltman Brothers YouTube channel on Friday.
The 41-year-old broke his leg while filming an episode for the channel when he jumped into the water at Balintore Harbour.
However, due to the shallow depth at the harbour at the time, Stoltman suffered a break to his right leg.
As a result, he will not be able to compete at the World’s Strongest Man at Myrtle Beach in California which takes place between April 23 and April 26.
He is also out of Europe’s Strongest Man which takes place in Leeds on April 11.
Speaking about how he suffered his injury, Stoltman said on the Stoltman Brothers YouTube channel: “We were filming for some YouTube, jumping in the cold water, checking tide times, it was just off high tide.
“We went to the harbour at Balintore to jump off.
“I went in first, big running jump, four or five metres and normally when I jump off it is a quick jump, but as I jumped I thought it was taking ages.
“I crashed into the water and the leg snapped when I landed in the water.
“I stood up and the water was up to chest height. It is pretty brutal to be honest.”
Stoltman managed to climb up the steps where he was helped out by his younger brother Tom who drove him home.
He was taken to hospital in Inverness where he received treatment and it was confirmed that he had suffered a Butterfly Break.
The footage of his accident was released on the Stoltman Brothers YouTube channel on Monday night.
He says that he is now looking to recover from the accident, but is definitely out of Europe’s Strongest Man and World’s Strongest Man.
He said: “We’ve got the hyperbaric chamber which is good for promoting and repairing fractures and bone breaks. I’ll be using red light therapy and peptides as well.
“I won’t be competing at Europe’s Strongest Man or World’s Strongest Man which is a huge blow as I have been working really hard and I felt really good about my training in the last couple of weeks.
“But these things happen for reasons unbeknown to us and maybe that’ll never be exposed the reason that this happened.
“But I have got to have the faith that it has happened for some bigger purpose than me being able to compete at Europe’s and World’s Strongest Man.”
Luke said that he is looking at six to eight weeks of not being able to put any weight on his leg.
He has appeared at World’s Strongest Man 10 times during his career, first competing in 2016 and reached the final six times, with a best placed finish of seventh on three occasions in 2019, 2020 and 2022.
He has won Europe’s Strongest Man twice in 2021 and 2024 and won Britain’s Strongest Man in 2025.
Luke hopes that he will be able to support his younger brother Tom who will be looking to win World’s Strongest Man for a fourth time, having previously won the title in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
He said: “I would still like to be able to go out to World’s Strongest Man and support Tom in his quest to get number four.
“That’s the priority to get Tom the fourth World’s Strongest Man.
“If me being there and giving Tom as much support and energy as I can help, I will be there and I’ll hobble along as much as I can.”
