Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson

Hafþór Júlíus "Thor" Björnsson (Icelandic pronunciation: ​[ˈhafθour ˈjuːliʏs ˈpjœsːɔn]; sometimes spelled as Hafthor Julius Bjornsson) is an Icelandic professional strongman, actor, and former professional basketball player. He is best known for his role as Ser Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane in the HBO series Game of Thrones.

Basketball career

Hafþór began his sports career as a basketball player. At 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) and 110 kg (240 lb), he played first in the Iceland-Dominos league's K.R. Basket Reykjavík basketball team as a starting center. Simultaneously, he was picked for the D2 Icelandic National Basketball Team.

For the 2007–2008 season, he moved to play professionally as center for the Icelandic Division 1 basketball team FSu Selfoss.

Hafþór's basketball career ended after he suffered a severe knee injury at age 20.

Strongman career

Hafþór met Icelandic strongman Magnús Ver Magnússon at his gym "Jakaból" in 2008, and Magnús said that Hafþór seemed a good prospect as a strongman. Hafþór won several strongman contests in Iceland in 2010 including Strongest Man in Iceland, Iceland's Strongest Viking, Westfjords Viking, and five of six events at the OK Badur Strongman Championships.

Hafþór finished in second place at the inaugural Jón Páll Sigmarsson Classic in November 2010, behind Brian Shaw. He won the 2011 Strongest Man in Iceland contest on June 4, 2011, and the 2011 Iceland's Strongest Man contest on June 18, 2011.

Hafþór came fourth in the Giants Live Poland 2011 event on August 6, 2011.

On 31 January 2015, Hafþór beat a 1,000-year-old record set by Orm Storolfsson at the World's Strongest Viking competition in Norway, where he carried a 10-metre-long (33 ft), 650-kilogram (1,430 lb) log for five steps.

World's Strongest Man

Hafþór took part in World's Strongest Man after earning a wild card invitation to the 2011 contest. He came sixth overall.

Taking part again in ensuing years, he placed third in 2012, 2013 and 2015. He finished runner-up in 2014 event to Žydrūnas Savickas and again in the 2016 event to Brian Shaw.

Icelandic Mountain Vodka

Since 2016, Hafþór has been the spokesperson and co-owner of Icelandic Mountain Vodka.

Hafþór was cast as Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane for the fourth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones in August 2013. This was his first main acting role, and he is the third person to depict the character after Conan Stevens played the role in season 1 and Ian Whyte in season 2. He became the first actor to portray Clegane in more than one season with his appearances in season 4, season 5, season 6 and season 7. Hafþór was cast for the role of Mongkut in the 2017 film Kickboxer: Retaliation.

• Squat – 380 kg (795 lbs) raw
• Bench press – 230 kg (528 lbs) raw
• Tire deadlift – 450 kg (994 lbs) raw with wrist straps
• Deadlift – 450 kg (990 lbs) 4.625 cronans raw with straps
• Log Press – 206.5 kg (455 lbs)
• Log carry – [5 steps] 650 kg (1433 lbs)
• Keg throw – 7.15 m

Training lifts

• Deadlift 450 kg (990 lbs) raw with wrist straps
• Log Press 206.5 kg (455 lbs)
• Squat 300 kg (660 lbs) for 10 reps, raw without knee wraps
• Bench Press 220 kg (485 lbs) for 8 reps, raw

• ^ Jay Hathaway (June 4, 2014). "Watch The Mountain from Game of Thrones Deadlift Almost 1,000 Pounds". Gawker.com. Retrieved June 5, 2014. 
• "Thor and Benny Magnusson, 420 and 445 kg Deadlift". YouTube.com. Retrieved November 11, 2014. 
• "The Mountain from 'Game of Thrones' Breaks 1,000-Year-Old Weightlifting Record". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 4, 2015. 

Film

Television