Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (; transliterated as Hafthor in English; born 26 November 1988) is an Icelandic professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time. He is the first and only person to have won the Arnold Strongman Classic, the Europe's Strongest Man, and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year and holds numerous Strongman titles from multiple strength federations, including multiple world records. With 31 international competition wins, he is the third most decorated strongman in history, and in terms of pure brute strength and having broken 123 world records, many strength analysts and Strongman experts widely regard Hafþór as "the strongest man to have ever lived".

Hafþór has also appeared on television as an actor, portraying "The Mountain" Ser Gregor Clegane in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' for five seasons. He is often simply referred to as "Thor" or "the Mountain", the latter due to his ''Game of Thrones'' character and his own massive size.

In March 2023, Hafþór was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame.

Early life

Hafþór was born on 26 November 1988 in Reykjavík, Iceland. When he was eleven years old, his family moved to Kópavogur. He received his primary education at Grundaskóli and then Hjallaskóli hill school, but due to high levels of energy as a child, he had difficulty sitting in a classroom or concentrating on his studies. As a student at the polytechnic school in Breiðholt, he was enthusiastic about sports and played soccer and did gymnastics, before discovering his passion for basketball in eighth grade. He was also a chess player, with a Blitz rating of 800. He also loved playing video games.

A lanky teenager, Hafþór gained size and strength through daily exercise, combining basic movements (push-ups, chin-ups, and sit-ups) with working at his grandfather's farm during summers and lifting natural stones in the wilderness. His imposing height of is credited to his father, Björn Þor Reynisson, and his mother, Ragnheiður Juliusdottir, who is also of tall stature. Hafþór's grandfather Reynir Ásgeirsson is also very tall and just as broad across the chest. Hafþór has two sisters: Bryndís Björg Björnsdóttir and Hafdís Lind Björnsdóttir.

Basketball career

Hafþór began his athletic career as a basketball player, playing as a center with a bodyweight of around . He started his senior team career for the Icelandic 1. deild karla club Breiðablik in 2004. The following season, he transferred to FSu Selfoss, but after about ten games, it was discovered that he had been playing with a broken bone in his ankle and required surgery. After recovering, in 2006, Hafþór moved to KR in the Icelandic top-tier Úrvalsdeild. However, after a screw in his ankle shattered, he had to undergo a second surgery in November, forcing him to miss the rest of the season.

To commence the 2007–2008 season, Hafþór moved back to play for FSu Selfoss and averaged 6.7 points per game, helping the team to achieve a promotion to the Úrvalsdeild. However, the troublesome ankle continued and ultimately forced him to retire from basketball at the age of nineteen, shattering his dream of making it to the NBA one day.

Between 2004 and 2006, Hafþór played 32 games for the Icelandic junior national basketball teams and 8 with Iceland's U-18 national team in Division A of the U18 European Championship. In May 2004, he won the Nordic championship with the U-16 team. During the 2004 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship Division B, he helped Iceland achieve promotion to Division A. In 2006, he won the Nordic championship again, this time with the U-18 team.

Strongman career

After recovering from the ankle injury, and inspired by Ronnie Coleman and Dorian Yates, Hafþór trained like a bodybuilder. One day, when four-time World's Strongest Man champion Magnús Ver Magnússon spotted the twenty-year-old, 6 ft 9 in, Hafþór deadlifting in his gym, "Jakaból", he immediately realized his potential as a good prospect for strongman, which paved the way for Hafþór to train with Stefán Sölvi Pétursson, Benedikt Magnússon, Páll Logason, and Ari Gunnarsson.

The following year, while training at the "Strongman Base" gym, Hafþór was nicknamed ''Ljónið'' (the Lion) by Stefán Sölvi Pétursson, because he continuously grew bigger and got stronger, eventually reaching his heaviest body weight ever, of , in 2012.

Iceland's Strongest Man

With his newfound friendships and guidance, Hafþór progressed in the sport and went on to win several strongman contests in Iceland multiple times from 2009 onwards, including Westfjord's Viking, Eastfjord Strongman Championships, Highland Viking, Iceland's Strongest Viking, OK Badur Strongman Championships, Akranes Strength Challenge, and Strongest Man in Iceland. After placing third behind his friends Pétursson and Magnússon in 2010, Hafþór won his first Iceland's Strongest Man title (Iceland's most prestigious) in 2011, becoming the ninth Icelander to win the title since its inception, in 1985. His winning streak continued, and in 2024, Hafþór won Iceland's Strongest Man for the eleventh time, including ten consecutive wins between 2011 and 2020.

Strongman Champions League

Hailing from its IFSA roots, the Strongman Champions League organized several Grand Prix events, which attracted many athletes from around the world. It gave Hafþór the opportunity for international exposure, competing against the best strongmen in the world. From 2013 to 2015, he competed prolifically (up to fourteen competitions in a single year) throughout many Grand Prix competitions in Germany, Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Russia, China, Malaysia, and Brazil, winning eight international titles, three silver medals, and two bronze medals.

In January 2015, at the World's Strongest Viking competition, held in Norway, Hafþór carried a , log, in diameter for five steps, thus breaking a legendary 1,000-year-old record, set by Orm Storolfsson for three steps.

Europe's Strongest Man

After placing fifth and fourth in 2012 and 2013, respectively, Hafþór won the 2014 Europe's Strongest Man competition in Leeds, organized by Giants Live. During the competition, after setting a new world record in the Atlas stones event, he famously answered the reporter, "I'm the future of strength, and I'm king of the stones!" Hafþór successfully defended his title in 2015, but in 2016, despite doing well in other events, he made a mistake at the car walk by gripping the apparatus from the center instead of the sides, which compromised his balance; he eventually lost the title to Englishman Laurence Shahlaei. He regained it in 2017, after an iconic battle with Eddie Hall, and famously answered Bill Kazmaier, "This is not a beauty contest, this is Strongman!" He successfully defended the crown again in 2018 and 2019, becoming a five-time Europe's Strongest Man Champion.

In addition to his five titles, Hafþór has also won the 2014 Giants Live FitX Melbourne, 2014 World's Strongest Viking, 2015 Giants Live Viking, and 2015 Giants Live Sweden, making him the greatest Giants Live champion of all time, with nine wins.

World's Strongest Man

Hafþór took part in World's Strongest Man after earning a wild card invitation to the 2011 contest and placed sixth. At 22 years and 300 days, he is the fourth-youngest WSM finalist in history. Taking part again in ensuing years, he placed third in 2012, 2013, and 2015, and finished runner-up in 2014 to Žydrūnas Savickas by half a point, again in 2016 to Brian Shaw by two points, and finally in 2017 to Eddie Hall by one point, before becoming the World's Strongest Man in 2018, winning the competition by six-and-a-half points over the runner-up, Mateusz Kieliszkowski. Hafþór was the third Icelander to win the title, after Jón Páll Sigmarsson and Magnús Ver Magnússon.

In his attempt to defend the title in 2019, Hafþór suffered a torn plantar fascia during the group stages and emerged in third place overall, behind Martins Licis and Mateusz Kieliszkowski, thus achieving the longest continuous podium streak in World's Strongest Man history, with eight (2012–2019). Hafþór has also won more vehicle pulls, stone events, and medleys and loading races than any other competitor in the history of the competition. Among the past winners who have managed to qualify for the finals at a 100% ratio, Hafþór and Mariusz Pudzianowski top the list, with nine finals out of nine appearances. In May 2020, Hafþór stated that he would not return to Giants Live or World's Strongest Man competitions.

Arnold Strongman Classic

Hafþór entered the Arnold Sports Festival's limelight after winning second place in the 2011 Arnold Amateur competition, which was also his first-ever competition abroad. This paved the way for him to qualify for the Arnold Pro Strongman World Series, eventually winning the Arnold Brazil, Arnold Australia, Arnold South Africa, and Arnold Canada competitions.

Widely recognized as the heaviest and most difficult strongman contest in the world, Hafþór first participated in the Arnold Strongman Classic finals, held annually in Columbus, Ohio, in 2012, placing tenth (last place). But after a continuous progression, placing eighth in 2013, fifth in 2014, seventh in 2015, fifth in 2016, and second in 2017, Hafþór defeated the defending champion, Brian Shaw, and won the 2018 Arnold Strongman Classic, becoming only the seventh person to win the prestigious title. In the fourth event, Hafþór broke the elephant bar deadlift world record with , beating Jerry Pritchett's , established the previous year.

Hafþór successfully defended his title at the 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic in dominant fashion and improved on his elephant bar deadlift world record, increasing it to in only his second attempt out of the three allowed.

After successfully defending his crown again in 2020, Hafþór became the second of three people in history to win the Arnold Strongman Classic three times in a row, along with Žydrūnas Savickas and Mitchell Hooper.

Following a three-year hiatus due to boxing and powerlifting, Hafþór returned to the 2024 Arnold Strongman Classic and deadlifted to win the inaugural event. However, since he was recovering from a pectoral tear from the previous year, his pressing power was only adequate for the overall fourth place. Two weeks later, Hafþór participated in the UK edition of the competition and secured second place, after breaking the world record for the raw deadlift for reps event, performing ten repetitions with on a stiff bar within sixty seconds. At the 2025 edition he finished third, securing his fifth podium at the competition.

World's Ultimate Strongman

In 2018, Hafþór won the inaugural World's Ultimate Strongman, held in Dubai, in a stacked field of twelve athletes. This year also marked the most dominant calendar year in strongman history, with Hafþór winning the Iceland's Strongest Man, Europe's Strongest Man, World's Strongest Man, World's Ultimate Strongman, and the Arnold Strongman Classic.

Also from 2018 onwards, Hafþór significantly increased his static strength under the mentoring of his strength coach since 2016, Sebastian Oreb, and increased his squat to during training and during Thor's Powerlifting Challenge. In February 2020, Hafþór deadlifted for two reps and became the first person in history to deadlift 1,000 lb for two reps. Two weeks later, he deadlifted an unofficial world record on the elephant bar, with . All of the lifts were performed raw (only wraps for squats and straps for deadlifts).

On 2 May 2020, Hafþór deadlifted under strongman rules (standard bar with figure-eight straps and single-ply suit) at Thor's Power Gym, Kópavogur, Iceland, while being refereed by Magnús Ver Magnússon under the sanctioning of World's Ultimate Strongman, and broke the near-four-year strongman deadlift world record of , by Eddie Hall. The lift was globally televised live by ESPN, and the Guinness World Records verified it as 'the Heaviest Deadlift of all time'.

Rogue Invitational and Shaw Classic

In 2022, Hafþór made a guest appearance at the 2022 Rogue Invitational in Austin, Texas, and broke the Highland games one-arm weight over bar world record for the twelfth time, with a clearance of .

He also planned to debut at the 2024 Strongest Man on Earth competition at the Shaw Classic as well as the 2024 Rogue Invitational. He finished runner up at the Strongest Man on Earth competition with four event wins from eight to Mitchell Hooper. He finished tied second with Tom Stoltman at the Rogue Invitational, behind winner Mitchell Hooper.

Competitive record

Strongman

Placements: 58 x 1st places, 16 x 2nd places and 11 x 3rd places = 85 x podium finishes from 103 total competitions.
* Winning percentage: 43.7% in International circuit & 84.4% at National circuit
* Podium percentage: 76.1% in International circuit & 96.9% at National circuit
* Top 5 percentage: 93.0% in International circuit & 100% at National circuit

Powerlifting

Despite the fact that Hafþór never trained specifically for powerlifting, he did two full competitions during his strongman career and another post-retirement. In the 2011 Íslandsmót tournament, at the age of 22, he totaled raw, winning second place overall, behind Páll Logason. During the 2018 Thor's Powerlifting Challenge (sanctioned by the 'World Raw Powerlifting Federation'), with only five weeks of casual preparation, Hafþór totaled raw, which was at the time the fifth-highest raw superheavyweight powerlifting total of all time. He won second place for highest bench press, behind Kirill Sarychev, and won first place for the highest squat, highest deadlift, highest total, and highest Wilks score, winning the overall competition.

After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus from strength training, Hafþór competed in 2022 Thor's Powerlifting Meet in December and totaled raw. Then on 13 February 2023, Hafþór proceeded to officially announce his return to strength sports, stating he will attempt to break the all-time powerlifting total world record at the end of the year. On 15 April 2023, he competed in his first out of three scheduled powerlifting meets, on his journey towards breaking the world record, and squatted , but tore his left pectoral muscle on his last bench press attempt of , forcing him to withdraw from performing the deadlifts. A week later, he underwent a five-hour surgery in Los Angeles, where the muscle was successfully re-attached to the bone, promising a full recovery.

Highland Games

Hafþór participated in the 2012 Icelandic Highland Games; the 150th anniversary of the Caledonian Club of San Francisco's 2015 Highland Games; and was a guest participant at the New Hampshire Highland Games (also known as Loon Mountain Highland Games) in 2014, 2015, and 2017, where he broke multiple world records in deadlift, stone carry, stone press, keg, and weight toss events.

Personal records

* Deadlift on standard bar ''(with deadlift suit and figure 8 straps)'' – , x 3 reps
* Deadlift on elephant bar ''(raw, and with normal straps)'' – , x 2 reps
* Deadlift on stiff bar for reps ''(raw, and with normal straps)'' – x 10 reps
* Squat ''(raw with wraps)'' – , x 2 reps
* Squat for reps ''(raw with wraps)'' – x 5 reps (paused), x 8 reps (paused), x 29 reps
* Bench press ''(raw)'' – , x 6 reps, x 10 reps
* Incline dumbbell press – dumbbells per hand x 7 reps, dumbbells per hand x 12 reps
* Log press – , x 3 reps
* Axle press – , x 4 reps
* Barbell push press (behind the neck) –
* Cyr dumbbell press – , x 3 reps
* Manhood Stone (Max Atlas Stone) over 4 ft bar – , x 2 reps
* Atlas Stones run – 5 stones weighing in 17.54 seconds
* Húsafell Stone carry – for
* Bale tote (super yoke) – for 4 metres in 28.65 seconds
* Timber carry (on 35' inclined ramp) – in 10.15 seconds (with straps), in 8.40 seconds (Raw grip)
* Keg toss – over , over
* Keg toss run – 8 kegs () over in 16.35 seconds
* Weight over bar – over
* Sandbag over bar – over
* Viking ship mast (Ormrinn langi) carry – , 10 metres (33 ft) long log for 5 steps
* Plane pull – for 24.90 meters 'uphill, with an extra uphill on the final meter'

Legacy

During his international strongman career, Hafþór won all the major strongman competitions and titles that were available at that time, including World's Strongest Man, Arnold Strongman Classic, Europe's Strongest Man, Strongman Champions League, Giants Live, and World's Ultimate Strongman, and his thirty international wins rank him as the third most decorated strongman of all time. Even though he was noted primarily for his strength in the moving events during the initial years of his career (for example, medleys and loading races, keg-tossing, power stairs, vehicle pulls, and natural stones, which require good stamina and athleticism), Hafþór kept on improving and upscaled his brute strength, which helped him excel in static events, such as deadlifts, squats, log presses, axle presses, circus dumbbells, etc. This made him a well-rounded strongman by the year 2018. Experts consider the three years from that point onwards as the "highest peak performance" of any strongman in history, due to Hafþór's dominance and having no weaknesses at any event. During these three years, the only time Hafþór failed to win a competition was due to an injury, and apart from it, he remained unbeaten. Hafþór's international accolades and winning everything there is in the sport cemented his legacy as one of the greatest strongmen of all time, and due to breaking 100+ world records in various static lifts and feats displaying brute strength, many analysts and strongman experts regard him as "the strongest man to have ever walked the earth".

Boxing career

On 2 May 2020, after breaking the Deadlift World Record, Hafþór challenged its previous record holder, Eddie Hall, to a boxing match. Despite having no boxing experience whatsoever, Hafþór learned the fundamentals of the sport and made commendable progress under the guidance of his coaches, Billy Nelson and Vilhjálmur Hernandez, and support from his two main sparring partners, Skúli Ármansson and Bill Hodgson. With a stricter diet that differed from his strongman days, Hafþór also transformed himself to suit the new sport, losing in the process. He started training twice a day (up to five hours per day), with a weekly routine that was segmented into fourteen sessions. They consisted of six boxing training sessions, four strength training sessions (two each for upper and lower body), and four endurance training sessions.

Hafþór's first exhibition match was against ex-WBO European light-heavyweight champion Steven Ward, in January 2021. For his second exhibition match, he faced the 2010 Commonwealth Games Heavyweight Gold Medalist, Simon Vallily, in May 2021. The two fights provided him his first real ring experience. On 18 September 2021, Hafþór faced Canadian professional arm-wrestler Devon Larratt in his first non-exhibition boxing match. Larratt volunteered for the fight when Eddie Hall withdrew, after sustaining a biceps tear during training. Within the first round, the referee was forced to stop the fight, awarding Hafþór the win via TKO (technical knockout).

The Mountain vs. The Beast

On 19 March 2022, after almost two years since its announcement, Hafþór and Hall finally faced each other in Dubai in a fight taglined The Heaviest Boxing Match in History. Hall started the first round with continuous haymakers, but Hafþór kept his composure and stuck to the basics, focusing on a solid jab and better footwork. Once he realized Hall's game plan, Hafþór took control of the fight by bludgeoning and knocking Hall down twice, in rounds three and six. Hall sustained bleeding lacerations on top of both eyes, and Hafþór won the fight via unanimous decision.

Exhibition boxing record

Acting career

Hafþór was cast as Ser Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane for the fourth season of the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' in August 2013. This was his first main acting role, and he is the third person to depict the character after Conan Stevens

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