Third world title for vegan strongman

British strongman makes history by claiming third consecutive world title

Britain’s Tom Butts continues to have an incredibly strong year. Following on from his Britain’s Strongest Man competition, he had his sights on a third consecutive title at World’s Strongest Natural Man Championships, held at the University of Galway.

He faced 23 of the planet’s strongest in the under 90 kg category. They faced seven events across two days, including events which tested cardiovascular fitness as well as raw strength.

After the competition, Tom spoke about how it felt stepping into the arena under the weight of expectations:

“[This was} by far the mentally toughest competition I’ve ever done. This year there was a huge expectation to win, from the outside world, the strongman community, and from myself. 2023 and 2024 were all about desiring the win, this year was dreading a loss.”

Tom knew the first day of events was going to be tough as it featured his most-feared event: the Hercules Hold. Tom secretly hoped he would surpass expectations here, after some big improvements in training but, after holding 160 kg for 31 seconds, his left hand suddenly gave up on him and the weights came crashing to the ground. He finished this event in 17th place, giving away 11 points to his closest rival, Jakub Navratil of Czechia, and dropping down the order.

Fortunately, a tied second place in the Axle Deadlift, third place in the Yoke and Power Stairs and a much needed first place in the final event of the day, saw Tom claw back one point on Jakub. But as prepared for day two, things weren’t looking good for our vegan strongman and Tom knew a win was looking unlikely.

Stepping onto the competition floor on day two, Tom had a lot of work to do if there was any chance of claiming his third title at this event. The first of the day’s three events was the Max Axle Clean and Press and Tom came out fighting, equaling his personal best with an impressive 150 kilogram lift. He finished in tied first place and said afterwards, “the fire was lit, and I believed I could win.”

Next up was the Bag Toss – a favourite of Tom’s. His rival, Jakub, finished the event in sixth place but Tom continued his winning streak finishing in first, giving him half a point lead going into the final event. Could Tom make it a hat-trick on the second day to secure his triple competition win?

The title was going to come down to the final event of the competition – the Sandbag Load – and it wasn’t without its drama. Tom was neck-and-neck with Jakub but the vegan strongman didn’t quite get the 130 kg sandbag cleanly over the bar, costing him vital seconds. Tom was still close enough behind Jakub to apply pressure, causing Jakub to stumble on the final leg. Tom was able to capitalise, take the lead and cement his third consecutive title of the World’s Strongest Natural Man.

After the competition, Tom said he was “proud to fly the vegan flag high,” and the vegan community is proud of Tom’s achievement too!

Content sourced and adapted, with permission, from Great Vegan Athletes.