By 
OMAGH’S Thomas Kelly is looking forward to taking part in Ireland’s Strongest Man for the first time in May.
The 20-year-old qualified via Ulster’s Strongest Man in late November last year and he is looking forward to standing and competing alongside the giants – figuratively and literally – of the sport, who he has idolised for some time, including Moortown’s Daniel McElroy, who stands at 6’6” and is over 150kgs, and Strabane’s former World’s Under-90kg Strongest Man, Gavin McNamee.
At well under six feet in height and under-90 kilos in weight, however, he will be by some way the smallest competitor at Crumlin Road Gaol on the day but that won’t lessen his determination to shine on the big stage.
“It’s a wee bit surreal and seeing that line-up with men who have been idols to me, having been looking at these big giants for so long, so to be getting to compete amongst them is madness!,” he beamed.
“I’m normally an under-90kg athlete so it’s all about gaining experience. My whole mindset going into it is, I’m probably not going to win but I want to make the point that I can stand amongst the strongest men in the country and hold my own despite being the smallest guy there and the youngest guy there.”
It’s not only Kelly’s size or lack of it (relatively speaking in Strongman terms) that has made his qualification for Ireland’s Strongest Man eye-catching, but also his lack of experience in the sport.
After suffering a hernia in his first ever competition a few years ago, undergoing surgery and the subsequent recovery time, he has only been competing properly for a year.
“I’ve been training in the gym for four or five years but I only started competing last year,” he explained. “I did a little first-timers competition a few years ago but I got a hernia after that, so last year I went full blazes back at it.
“I must have done four competitions and I did pretty well in them, qualifying for Ireland’s Strongest Man at the Ultimate Strongman Ulster’s Strongest Man in Bangor. I ended up coming fourth and it was top three qualified, but the guy in second already had his qualifying spot so I kind of sneaked in there but I’ll take it! I’m not going to complain!”
Thomas isn’t the only member of his family involved in the sport, with older brother Lee the current under-80kg Irish deadlift record holder (among other accolades) and while comparisons to Scotland’s Stoltman brothers – the appropriately named Tom, and Luke – might be a bit off the mark just yet, the pair have been as dedicated and as keen as they come ever since first dipping their feet in the water of strongman competition.
“A boy we know told me about this first-timers competition and I turned round to Lee and said ‘why don’t we give this a go?’. He said ‘yeah, we might as well enter it’ and we’ve been hooked ever since,” Thomas added.
“Lee has competed a lot more than I have because I had the surgery [to deal with the hernia] and we’ve been obsessed ever since!”
Looking ahead to 2026 and all that’s on his calendar, Thomas is keen to do his best at Ireland’s Strongest Man in May but before and after that he’s keen to start ‘hunting down’ McNamee’s records and successes at several competitions.
With the Strabane man now moving up from under-90kg to the 105 and possibly 120kg ranks, Kelly is keen to emulate his county-man’s numerous achievements.
“Gavin’s the target, I’m always trying to hunt him down!,” Thomas said with a laugh. “Obviously, there’s the OSG [Official Strongman Games World’s Strongest Man title] that he won and there’s the natural strongest man categories too. Last February I entered nationals and won the under-90kg category and then went to the UK’s and came third and qualified for the natural world’s last year and ended up eighth, which isn’t too bad.
“It was my first year, so I was happy to get that far and this year I want to go down that OSG route that Gavin won, that’s the goal this year alongside this Ireland’s Strongest Man which is a big bonus because I didn’t expect to qualify for it.”
Ahead of Ireland’s Strongest Man, which is an open weight competition, Thomas is looking forward to giving free reign to his diet and appetite as he doesn’t have to ‘make weight’ for it.
“I can eat as much as I like because even if I come in at 105 [kilos] I’m still going to be the smallest guy there so that’s a nice thought for the next few months!,” he said.
“But before then I have the OSG Ireland’s in March in Derry, which I want to give a go and maybe get the win.
“Then after that I can look forward to eating what I want until May! That was one thing that was nice about competing in Ulster’s Strongest Man, I didn’t have to make weight.
“It was very nice to just walk out at the weight I am.”
