Thor is coming out of retirement and back to strength sports.
2018 World’s Strongest Man Hafthor ‘Thor’ Bjornsson is coming out of retirement as he looks to break the powerlifting total world record. Thor hopes to showcase his improved strength and break the total record by the end of 2023.
Competing at the top of your sport up as a professional athlete can be a daunting task. There are always new and fresh contenders, waiting to showcase their own abilities and knock the top athlete off of their perch. If one does reach the top of their sport, then their reward for all their hard work is defending that very spot they work so hard to get to. This is just the nature of competitive sports. As such every athlete under takes this goal, and understands the consequences of being the very best.
But you can only remain at the top of your chosen sport for so long. Eventually time will take its toll and force an athlete into retirement injuries, and other outside obligations can also lead an athlete to step away from competition. For Hafthor ‘Thor’ Bjornsson his reasons for retirement was a bit more complex. With a goal to compete in boxing against his rival, Eddie Hall, Thor embarked on a journey of self discovery through pugilism.
Now that his journey through the boxing world has been complete with the defeat of his rival, Eddie Hall, Thor is now keen to make a return to strength sports. Thor will make a return to powerlifting, and he has some lofty goals in that arena. The Icelandic strength athlete also indicated that he would be making a return to strongman competition in 2024.
Powerlifting World Record
Thor intends to break the all-time raw (with wraps) powerlifting world record total by the end of 2023. Powerlifter Dan Bell currently holds the all-time world record with a total of
1,182.5 kgs (2,607 lbs). The record was settled back in 2021 and has held ever since. Thor’s last recorded total power lifting numbers, 970 kgs (2,138.5 lbs), pales in comparison to Bell’s on total.
While he still has a ways to go in order to break the total world record, Thor seems to be in top condition, recently showcasing some incredible strength and training.
270kg feeling extremely light on my back today. Weights will go up each week. I wanna push harder and go heavier but I have a plan and I gotta stay patient.
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2023 and 2024 Goals
Thor went into detail about his goals for 2023 and 2024. He hopes to break the powerlifting all time raw world record by the end of this year. Thor hopes to return to strongman competition sometime in 2024. Get the full details here.
What do you think of Thor coming out of retirement?
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News and Editorial Writer at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.
