Hafthor Bjornsson is making a return to strongman.
2018 World’s Strongest Man Hafthor Bjornsson has announced his intentions to return to the world of strongman. Having retired from competition for several years now, Hathor is looking to once again showcase his incredible strength in the realm he once dominated.
One of the most popular strongman athletes to ever compete, Hafthor Bjornsson gained a ton of notoriety after his hit role on the HBO series Game of Thrones. Portraying a character heralded as “The Mountain”, the name stuck and fit Hafthor like a glove. Standing at a staggering 6 feet, nine inches tall, Hafthor truly is a mountain of a human being.
After securing victory at the 2018 World’s Strongest Man, Hafthor Bjornsson would compete for a couple more years before deciding to retire. He would go on to compete in several boxing matches and even fight strongman rival Eddie Hall. After defeating Hall, Hafthor would go on to pursue other endeavors. Having secured the world record deadlift back in 2020, “The Mountain” would eventually decide to compete in powerlifting. However, a grave pec injury would put his powerlifting ambitions on hold.
While many believed he would return to powerlifting training once fully recovered from his injury, Hafthor Bjornsson has decided to go another route. In a recent announcement, Hafthor has stated his intentions to compete in strongman once again.
“I just love to be strong obviously, and to compete in strongman. I believe that I’m able to do that and still be very good, a very good contender in the sport of strongman. This time around, I’m going to allow myself to go at my own pace. I’m going to set obviously big goals for myself. But when I’m going to go into a competition, I’m going to do MY best.
“So super exciting news. I’m actually pumped about this. Super thrilled, excited about the opportunity to compete against the best in the world again in my sport. The sport that I loved for how long, I started competing back in 2009 and fell in love with the sport, competed all the way up to 2020. My last competition was actually, my last competition in strongman was Arnold Classic 2020.”
With his decision to return to strongman firmly established, Hafthor Bjornsson has decided to put powerlifting on hold.
“As of now, because of the injury I feel like it’s the smartest decision for me step away for a little bit, keep training, keep building up the static strength, then at some point later on in my journey, maybe a year from now, two years from now, three years from now, I might pick it back up.”
Hafthor also believes his quick strength progression during his powerlifting was what caused his pec tear.
“The reason why, is because I feel like when I decided to do powerlifting in the first place after being in boxing for two years, was I set myself – I set my goals so high, and I was getting strong so fast — my body wans’t ready for it. And that’s why I got injured in my opinion.
“I need to be smarter in training. I need to give myself more time to build up that static strength. That’s why I have another goal in mind. I‘ve decided to come back to strongman. The main reason is just because I have so much love for the sport.”
For more on his return to strongman click here to see the full announcement.
For more news and updates, follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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.
