Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (; transliterated as Hafthor Julius Bjornsson in English; born 26 November 1988) is an Icelandic professional strongman and an actor. With 33 international titles, 61 total wins, 89 podiums and 132 world records which makes him the most prolific record breaker in the history of strength sports, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most decorated strength athletes of all-time.
The winner of the World's Strongest Man, the World's Ultimate Strongman, two times the World's Strongest Viking, three times the Arnold Strongman Classic, five times the Europe's Strongest Man, nine Strongman Champions League wins, eleven Giants Live wins and twelve times the Iceland's Strongest Man, he is the only person to have won the World's Strongest Man, the Europe's Strongest Man and the Arnold Strongman Classic in the same calendar year, which he achieved in 2018. Known by his epithets 'king of the deadlift' and 'king of the stones', he is also Eisenhart deadlift champion and the former all-time deadlift world record holder at . Revered for his brute strength, Björnsson is regarded by many strength analysts and experts as "the strongest man to have ever lived".
Björnsson has also appeared on television as an actor, portraying Ser Gregor "the Mountain" Clegane in the HBO series Game of Thrones for five seasons. He is often simply referred to as "Thor" or "the Mountain", the latter for his Game of Thrones character and his own massive size.
In March 2023, Björnsson was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame.
Early life Björnsson 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, Björnsson 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 shared with his parents; his father, Björn Þor Reynisson, is and his mother, Ragnheiður Juliusdottir, is also tall. Björnsson's grandfather Reynir Ásgeirsson is also very tall and broad across the chest. Björnsson has two sisters: Bryndís Björg Björnsdóttir and Hafdís Lind Björnsdóttir.
Basketball career
Björnsson 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, Björnsson moved to KR in the Icelandic top-tier Úrvalsdeild. 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, Björnsson moved back to play for FSu Selfoss and averaged 6.7 points per game, helping the team to achieve a promotion to the Úrvalsdeild. His ankle injury persisted and ultimately forced him to retire from basketball at the age of nineteen, ending his dream of making it to the NBA one day.
Between 2004 and 2006, Björnsson played 32 games for the Iceland 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. During the 2006 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, he was a member of the Iceland team that handed eventual champions France its only defeat in the tournament.
Strongman career
After recovering from the ankle injury, and inspired by both Ronnie Coleman and Dorian Yates, Björnsson trained like a bodybuilder for two years. He was later drawn towards the sport of Strongman after being inspired by Jón Páll Sigmarsson and his Icelandic heritage. One day, when Benedikt Magnússon spotted the twenty-year-old, 6 ft 9 in, Björnsson training, he brought to his attention that a strongman competition was taking place the next day and encouraged him to participate. Björnsson then contacted Magnús Ver Magnússon and reserved his spot.
2009 In his very first competition 2009 Westfjord's Viking, Björnsson secured a fourth place finish. The champion Stefán Sölvi Pétursson won all but the second event which was the Leggstein (tombstone) carry. Despite having no formal strongman training, young Björnsson surprised the field by carrying the stone four revolutions around the plinth, breaking the world record. Stefán Sölvi volunteered to coach the youngster and shared his own equipment and gear with him. With the new found friendship, Björnsson kept on improving and won third place in both Grundarfjord Viking and Highland Viking competitions. In 2009 East Coast Giant/ Eastfjord strongman championships, Björnsson won second place behind Páll Logason and broke another world record in the Alfastein carry, with a distance of .
2010 The following year, while training at the 'Strongman Base gym', Björnsson was nicknamed Ljónið (the Lion) by Stefán Sölvi, because he continuously grew bigger and got stronger, eventually exceeding bodyweight by now. In addition to winning a few other local competitions, Björnsson won Iceland's Strongest Viking and Strongest Man in Iceland, the third and second highest ranking competitions in Iceland, and placed third behind reigning two-times champion Stefán Sölvi Pétursson and Benedikt Magnússon in the 2010 Iceland's Strongest Man, the main national competition. At the Westfjord's Viking competition, Björnsson also managed to break his own Leggstein carry world record. Taking part in his very first international strongman competition, Björnsson emerged runner-up to reigning World's Strongest Man runner-up Brian Shaw by 1 point at the inaugural Jón Páll Sigmarsson Classic.
2011 Björnsson entered the Arnold Sports Festival's limelight after winning second place in the 2011 Arnold Amateur competition in USA behind Mateusz Baron, which was also his first-ever competition abroad. He also got selected to Giants Live and Strongman Champions League, finishing fourth at 2011 Giants Live Poland and fifth at 2011 SCL Canada. The two federations gave Björnsson the opportunity for international exposure, competing against the best strongmen in the world. After earning a wild card invitation, Björnsson got selected to 2011 World's Strongest Man where he and Stefán Sölvi Pétursson both managed to qualify to the finals. At 22 years and 300 days, he became the fourth-youngest WSM finalist in history and secured sixth place in his first WSM appearance, including a world record in the Truck pull event.
In the local circuit, Björnsson won Iceland's Strongest Viking, Strongest Man in Iceland and Iceland's Strongest Man, becoming the first man to win all three Icelandic majors and became the ninth Icelander to win Iceland's Strongest Man (Iceland's most prestigious title) since its inception in 1985. Björnsson also won his first Icelandic Highland Games competition in Akranes.
2012 Björnsson won his first international strongman competition after dominating 2012 King of the Castle competition held in Hämeenlinna, Finland. At 2012 Europe's Strongest Man competition he turned up at a career heaviest bodyweight of and placed fifth, including a world record in the shield carry event. at 2012 World's Strongest Man he won his first WSM podium finish by placing third behind Žydrūnas Savickas and Vytautas Lalas with two event wins which included a world record in the natural stone loading event. He also won his second international title, the 2012 Jón Páll Sigmarsson Classic with another world record performance in the Farmer's walk event.
Being widely recognized the heaviest and most difficult strongman contest in the world, Björnsson first participated in the Arnold Strongman Classic finals, held annually in Columbus, Ohio, in 2012, placing tenth (last place). Tournament director Terry Todd encouraged Björnsson to keep improving his static strength and predicted that he can win this competition one day. Furthermore, Björnsson broke the tyre drag world record at 2012 Arnold Europe competition and together with Jarno Jokinen, won Ultimate Strongman World's Strongest Team competition held in Mullingar, Ireland. In the local context, Björnsson repeated his Icelandic majors threepeat, and tossed a keg, over at the 2012 Icelandic Highland Games, thus breaking both Riku Kiri's and Gary Taylor's keg-toss world records.
2013 Björnsson started to compete prolifically and completed 14 international competitions in 2013. Among them, he won 2013 Strongman Champions League Latvia, his third international win alongwith a world record in Basque circle, and another world record in the arm over arm truck pull at the 2013 SCL World Finals in Malaysia. He also broke the circus dumbbell for reps world record in 2013 Força Bruta competition (Arnold Pro Strongman World Series South America) held in Rio de Janeiro on his way to winning second place. He also won silver medals in 2013 SCL FIBO in Cologne, 2013 SCL Holland, 2013 SCL China and bronze medals in 2013 SCL Russia in Vladivostok and 2013 SCL Brazil.
At the 2013 World's Strongest Man, Björnsson won his second consecutive podium finish, placing third behind Shaw and Savickas. At the Arnold Strongman Classic, he improved his tenth place finish from last year to eighth place and improved his fifth place to fourth at the 2013 Europe's Strongest Man in Leeds, England. Björnsson also broke multiple vehicle pull world records most notably at 2013 SCL World Truck Pull Championships in Alahärmä, Finland and 2013 SCL World Finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He only did one national competition in 2013 and secured his third consecutive Iceland's Strongest Man title.
Björnsson also broke a Guinness world record in the bar bending discipline when he bent 4 x iron rods (each with a inch (1.6 cm) diameter) into U-shape in 30 seconds.
2014 Björnsson started his 2014 by winning the inaugural World's Strongest Viking competition held in Vinstra, Norway, with a world record in Viking lumberjack tree-sledge pull event. He also won his first Europe's Strongest Man title. After breaking the world record in the six-piece Atlas stones run, loading all six stones weighing 100–200 kg (220–441 lb) onto whiskey barrels within 27.05 seconds, Björnsson said "I'm the future of strength, and I'm king of the stones!"
At the 2014 World's Strongest Man in a stacked lineup of 12 athletes in the finals, Björnsson came very close to winning the title, when he finished only half a point behind Savickas, and two and a half points ahead of Shaw. He also broke world records in the Atlas stones and keg-toss for speed events after an duel with Shaw. Shaw tossed all eight kegs weighing over the bar in 16.59 seconds and proclaimed "I don't think that's beatable", only for Björnsson, competing next, to finish it in 16.35 seconds. Björnsson also improved his Arnold Strongman Classic placement to fifth.