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Hjalti 'Úrsus' Árnason (born 18 February 1963), is an
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
ic former
strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...
,
powerlifter Powerlifting is a competitive strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight singl ...
and a strength sports promoter. Known by the nickname 'The Great Ursus', Hjalti first began in strength sports by competing as a junior powerlifter in 1983. He also coached
Jón Páll Sigmarsson Jón Páll Sigmarsson (28 April 1960 – 16 January 1993) was an Icelandic strongman, powerlifter and bodybuilder who was the first man to win the World's S ...
and won the 1988 Le Defi Mark Ten International. Hjalti also competed with
Magnús Ver Magnússon Magnús Ver Magnússon (born 23 April 1963) is an Icelandic former powerlifter and strongman competitor. He is a four-time World's Strongest Man, having won in 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest strongmen o ...
in
Pure Strength Pure Strength was a vintage Strongman competition held from 1987 to 1990 in Scotland and England which was created by Tjalling van den Bosch. Event History The first year of the event was known as "Pure Strength Challenge" and it was a single ma ...
team competitions in 1989 & 1990, and won gold and silver.


Biography

Hjalti was born in
Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...
in 1963.David Webster, ''Sons of Samson - Volume 2'', pages 71-2, (Ironmind Enterprises Inc: Nevada City), He grew up in the same neighbourhood as Jón Páll Sigmarsson and they attended the same school. His sports career began with training in
karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...
and he also participated in
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
,
handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...
, and
track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
. He had a talent for powerlifting and shot to fame when he began competing internationally from 1983. In that year, he came first in the Junior European Championships and made the senior national team. Then he began to compete in
Strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...
to make a living as a semi-professional. He found at an early stage that powerlifting had little money or publicity associated with it and also his friend, Jón Páll, was beginning to make waves in the higher-profile world of the
World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decemb ...
and its associated circuit. His forays into strength athletics consisted of a mixture of Strength athletics including Highland Games. It was noted that Hjalti primarily relied on his 'brute strength' and sacrificed technique and suffered from a lack of proper, regular coaching. In 1985, Hjalti competed in the very first
Iceland's Strongest Man Strength athletics in Iceland refers to the participation of Icelandic competitors and holding national strongman competitions. The sport's roots have a long and ancient history going back to – 1056, with sagas about Orm Storolfsson, Finnbogi ...
contest and was second to Jón Páll whilst
Magnús Ver Magnússon Magnús Ver Magnússon (born 23 April 1963) is an Icelandic former powerlifter and strongman competitor. He is a four-time World's Strongest Man, having won in 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest strongmen o ...
came third. He would repeat podium finishes in this contest multiple times whilst in the company of two men who between them won the
World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decemb ...
title eight times. In one such contest, his 'animalistic approach' was demonstrated when he broke his opponent's arm in an arm wrestling bout. Upon being asked to do 'something spectacular for the TV cameras' by a sponsor, he was reported to have picked the sponsor up by an arm and a leg and hurled him some distance to the astonishment of bystanders. On the world stage, he was a top performer in Highland Games. His wrestling match with
Bill Kazmaier William Kazmaier (born December 30, 1953) is an American former world champion powerlifter, world champion strongman and professional wrestler. During his illustrious career, he set over 40 powe ...
at Earlshall has been described as one of the best ever. He was highly rated at the
World Muscle Power Championships The World Muscle Power Classic (WMPC) (sometimes known as the World Muscle Power Championships) was one of the most enduring annual strongman competitions, running for twenty years and in that time attaining the position of the second most prestig ...
and in breaking the world record in the platform lift, became the first European to win the prestigious Le Defi Mark Ten International in Canada. However, in his only appearance at
World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decemb ...
in 1996, he failed to qualify for the finals. Prior to that, he had been to many events as a tester, alongside his friend Mark Higgins. Prior to 1994, the WSM had a limited field with no heats. As such countries were rarely granted multiple competitor places. For Hjalti, when in the prime of his strength sporting career, this left him in the shadow of Jón Páll, and later the rise of
Magnús Ver Magnússon Magnús Ver Magnússon (born 23 April 1963) is an Icelandic former powerlifter and strongman competitor. He is a four-time World's Strongest Man, having won in 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest strongmen o ...
. This has been described by David Webster as a pity because "he was undoubtedly one of the world's strongest men." Hjalti continued to compete as a
powerlifter Powerlifting is a competitive strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight singl ...
and won the +125 kg super heavyweight class of the IPF World Powerlifting Championships in 1991 in
Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...
, Sweden. But he was later disqualified and the title passed to Hans Zerhoch. Hjalti was the first Icelander to break the 1000 kg barrier in the total ( squat,
bench press The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...
&
deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...
).


Personal records

'' Powerlifting (performed in single-ply equipment)'' * Squat – (1991 IPF World Powerlifting Championships) *
Bench press The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...
– (1989 Íslandsmeistaramót í kraftlyftingum) *
Deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...
– (1989 Íslandsmeistaramót í kraftlyftingum) *Total – (1989 Íslandsmeistaramót í kraftlyftingum) '' Strongman '' * Smith platform lift – (1987 Le Defi Mark Ten International) (World Record) * Machine Squat – (1991 World Strongman Challenge) * Car walk – for 30 metres in 28.7 seconds (1993 World Viking Challenge) * Log press – (1993 World Viking Challenge) *
Húsafell Stone The Húsafell Stone is a legendary lifting stone weighing 186 kg (410 lb) located in a west country farming estate in Húsafell, Iceland about northeast of Reykjavík. The slightly triangular, slab shaped stone is kept at a Pen (enclos ...
carry – for (1993 World Viking Challenge) :→ ''Hjalti has carried the Húsafell Stone during training in late 80s'' * Natural stone loading to 4 ft platform – (1991 World Viking Challenge) * Braemar Stone throw – for (1988 Le Defi Mark Ten International) *
Weight over bar Weight over bar (or Highland games 'one arm' weight over bar) () is a traditional strength sport derived from ancient Scottish Highland games that involves the heaving of a (half hundredweight) weight, over a bar using one hand. Unlike its oth ...
– over (1991 World Viking Challenge) *
Caber toss The caber toss () is a traditional Scottish athletic event in which competitors toss a large tapered pole called a "caber" (), normally practised at the Scottish Highland Games. The term "caber" derives from the Gaelic word ''cabar'', whi ...
– for (1987 Viking Power Challenge) *
Sheaf toss Sheaf may refer to: * Sheaf (agriculture), a bundle of harvested cereal stems * Sheaf (mathematics) In mathematics, a sheaf (: sheaves) is a tool for systematically tracking data (such as sets, abelian groups, rings) attached to the open s ...
– over (1987 World Muscle Power Classic)


Personal life and career after sport

From his marriage to Ethel Karlsdóttir, Hjalti has two sons, Greipur (born 1989) and Árni (born 1992). After divorcing, he moved in with his girlfriend, Halla Heimisdóttir. His brother is a noted musician in Iceland. Outside of sports, his careers were multiple and varied. He was a bouncer, a caring supervisor in a psychiatric hospital, a security agent, a debt collector, and a system administrator for Post and Telecom in Iceland. Hjalti also remained close to sport and became a major promoter of
strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...
and other strength athletics in Iceland. He created and organized the
Jón Páll Sigmarsson Classic Jón Páll Sigmarsson Classic was an annual strongman competition held in Iceland, with the participation of international athletes from various countries. The event was established in 2010 by Hjalti Árnason, who was a childhood friend, training ...
from 2010 to 2012 and to this date organizes and hosts the countries main Strongman title
Iceland's Strongest Man Strength athletics in Iceland refers to the participation of Icelandic competitors and holding national strongman competitions. The sport's roots have a long and ancient history going back to – 1056, with sagas about Orm Storolfsson, Finnbogi ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Árnason, Hjalti Hjalti Árnason Hjalti Árnason 1963 births Living people Hjalti Árnason