Eddie Hall and Thor Bjornsson have been going head-to-head a lot lately, but it looks like Eddie Hall has been able to put it behind him and weigh in on his 501 kg deadlift attempt in a more level-headed manner.
Probably the biggest beef in the strongman world right now is between deadlift world record-holder Eddie Hall and challenger Thor Bjornsson, who’s planned an out-of-competition challenge to Hall’s world record. Hall, of course, challenged the legitimacy of any lift that was performed outside a competitive setting with a referee present to authenticate the weight. In the process, he made some very disparaging comments about Icelandic people generally (?) that he was later forced to walk back in an apology post on Instagram. Now, Eddie Hall is back to settle the score about what he really thinks about Thor Bjornsson’s challenge to his deadlift record. You can watch his tell-all Q&A interview with Shaw Strength above.
The Q&A is mostly light-hearted and fun, with Eddie Hall reacting to fans’ questions about his bunk bed preferences and the chances of him going on a reality show, among others. Since questions were taken from fan comments on Instagram, it makes sense that the topic quickly turned to his rival, Thor Bjornsson.
“If Thor…fails that lift after everything that has happened in recent weeks, what effects do you think that would have on his career and the sport itself?” Asked one fan.
“He’s not done it yet,” Hall responded. “From what I judge from what I’m seeing from Thor’s training, I think he’s close…it’s like 60-40 he’s not gonna do it…I think he’s a little bit behind where I was when I was training for the 500.”
It’s a pretty serious conjecture for Eddie Hall to be making, although, as the holder of the deadlift world record, he’s definitely the one to be making it. Many fans have been acting as though Thor Bjornsson has already completed the 501 kg lift, or could any time that he attempted, but clearly, from Eddie Hall’s perspective, his form isn’t in the right place for him to be doing that.
It’s a respectful dissension from Eddie Hall, and a refreshing way to see him speaking about it after all the drama of these past few weeks. Take a look at the post below to revisit what Eddie Hall was saying about Thor Bjornsson just a few weeks ago.
Eddie Hall described Thor Bjornsson’s behavior at competitions as being based in “intimidation & bullying” of other competitors.
“At WSM 2017 Thor would not accept a certain referees decision on a certain event (Swipe left). He called into disrepute the judging skills of a referee which was then looked at by 3 referees & the decision was given to the legend that is Magnus Ver Magnusson who stood his ground and has since been appointed head referee at WSM,” shared Hall. “Talk about unsportsmanlike like and unprofessional behaviour, you’ve got it right here.”
Clearly, Hall doesn’t think much of Bjornsson’s methods or attitude, but seems very open to the possibility of him beating his world record. With official measuring suspended, it might be longer than we think until this one plays out.
*All images and media courtesy of YouTube and Instagram.
