The Icelandic strongman Hafthor Bjornsson – Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson is one of the most dominant athletes in the world today. He has won championships in the Arnold Strongman Classic, Europe’s Strongest Man, and World’s Strongest Man, among others. With his impressive resume and physique, it is no wonder that he is often cast in roles in Hollywood movies and TV shows.
Hafthor Bjornsson – (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson) is an incredibly talented and successful athlete, with a ‘brute strength’ that makes him dominate in every known strength event on earth. With 30 international competition wins under his belt, he is the third most decorated strongman in history behind Lithuania‘s Zydrūnas Savickas and Poland’s Mariusz Pudzianowski and has a ‘brute strength’ that makes him dominate in every known strength event on earth.
Physical appearance
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, who is also known as Thor, has spent most of his childhood working on the family farm, lifting stones and digging ditches. Thor’s height of 6ft 9in(205cm) resulted from his father (Björn) and mother (Ragnheiður). His grandfather Reynir and his wife Nanna are also very tall people.
Acting career
Hafþór is also an actor. He played Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane from Game of Thrones for five seasons, and he is now pursuing a career as a ‘titan weight boxer’ since 2021.
Hafþór Gunnarsson is also a Chess Grandmaster with a blitz rating of 800 and speaks English fluently, French fluently, Swedish fluently, and Norwegian fluently.
Sport’s Accomplishments
- Initially, Hafþór was a basketball player, playing as a center in the Icelandic top-tier Úrvalsdeild team Breiðablik in 2004. After an injury at age 9, he had to have surgery and missed most of 2006.
- In 2006, he left Madrid to return to Iceland and help his team. He averaged 6.7 points per game with help from his troublesome ankle. The Úrvalsdeild would be promoted in the 2007–08 season. However, he retired because of a troublesome ankle.
- From 2004 to 2006, Hafþór played 32 games for the Icelandic junior national basketball teams and 8 games with Iceland’s U-18 national team in Division A of the U18 European Championship. He won a Nordic championship again with the U-18 team in 2006.
- In 2008, when Magnús Ver Magnússon saw Hafþór training at “Jakaból”, he recognized a promising athlete and made him his successor as the country’s strongest man.
- Hafþór embraced his sport, doing well and winning Icelandic titles in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Hafþór went on to win 9 consecutive Iceland’s Strongest Man titles from 2018 to 2020.
World’s Strongest Viking competition
In the World’s Strongest Viking competition, held in Norway, in January 2015, Hafþór carried a 10-meter long (33 feet), 650 kilograms (1.433 pounds) log five steps to break an old mythical 1000-year old record set by Orm Storolfsson.
Europe’s Strongman Competition
After placing 5th and 4th in 2012 and 2013, Hafþór won the 2014 Europe’s Strongman Competition in Leeds. During the competition, after making a new world record in the Atlas Stones event, he answered the reporter:
I’m the future of strength and I’m the king of the stones.Other Achievements
- In 2015, Hafþór successfully defended his title in this sport despite making an occasional mistake. In 2016, even as he did well in other competitions, he made it his way with a mistake at the end. This gave Englishman Laurence Shahlaei the title.
- Hafþór Björnsson took part in the World’s Strongest Man after receiving an invite to the 2011 contest and placed 6th. He took part in subsequent years: he placed 3rd in 2012, 2013, and 2015, and finished 1st runner-up in 2014 to Žydrūnas Savickas and again in 2016 to Brian Shaw before finally becoming World’s Strongest Man on his first try in 2018. Hafþór was also the first Icelander to win that title since Magthúus Ver Magnússon won it nearly 25 years ago.
- Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson had done 8 events in the World’s Strongest Man final, leading to an unprecedented streak in the competition.
- In May 2020, Hafþór announced that he would not return to Giants Live events or World’s Strongest Man competitions.
Celebrating strength in the Arnold Classic
Being recognized as the heaviest and most difficult strongman contest in the world, Hafþór Björnsson beat out defending champion Brian Shaw in 2017 and won the 2018 Arnold Strongman Classic in Columbus, Ohio by performing a record-breaking Deadlift with 472 kg (1,041 lb).
Hafþór became champion at the 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic, breaking his championship mark by lifting 474 kg (1,045 lb) with his Deadlift in only two tries.
After successfully defending his title three times in a row, Hafþór became only the second person in history to win the Arnold Strongman competition after Zydrunas Savickas did.
World’s Premiere Strongman Competing
In 2018, Hafþór won the inaugural World’s Ultimate Strongman held in Dubai, in a stacked field of 12 athletes. This year also marked the most dominant calendar year in strongman history with Hafþór winning Iceland’s Strongest Man, Europe’s Strongest Man, World’s Strongest Man, World’s Ultimate Strongman, and Arnold Strongman Classic.
Hafþór Thor proved his strength in 2018 with a world record lift thanks to his new coach Sebastian Oreb and on February 15th, 2020, weighs in at 480kg on the heavy bar.
On May 2, 2020, Hafþor Deadlifted 501 kilograms (1,105 pounds) under strongman rules at Thor’s Power Gym in Kópavogur, Iceland being refereed by Magnús Ver Faustsson, sanctioned by World’s Ultimate Strongman. The deadlift was televised live on ESPN and recognized by Guinness as the new world record.
Hafþór Björnsson on Family, Relationships, & Domestic Violence
Hafthor Björnsson has had a tumultuous relationship with his ex-girlfriends, most notably one with who he was accused of domestic violence. After the accusation was dropped, she sued him and things were not going well because Hafthor, in turn, charged her with slander. Things went to court and the allegations were eventually dropped and they are now on better terms. He also saw their daughter Líf on a regular basis after their ordeal ended. Hafthor married Kelsey Henson on August 26, 2018, and they welcomed their son Stormur Magni Hafthorson on September 26.
Endorsements from Reykjavik 2000
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson is an ambassador for SodaStream, a company that produces carbonated water at home. He has appeared in advertisements of the brand to promote environmental awareness and collaborated in one with fellow Game of Thrones actress Hannah Waddingham (who played Septa Unella). In 2016, Hafþór co-founded the spirits brand Icelandic Mountain Vodka. The main focus of the company is a seven-time distilled Icelandic vodka. The company also produces gin.
