Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is a patronymic, not a family name; this person is properly referred to by the given name Hafþór.
Hafþór Björnsson

At the 2015 Caledonian Club Highland Games
Born (1988-11-26) November 26, 1988
Reykjavík, Iceland
Nationality Iceland Icelandic
Other names "Thor", "The Mountain"
Occupation Actor, strongman competitor, basketball player
Years active 2010–present (Strongman)
Website www.hafthorbjornsson.com

Hafþór Júlíus "Thor" Björnsson (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈhafθour ˈjuːliʏs ˈpjœsːɔn]; sometimes spelled as Hafthor Julius Bjornsson; born November 26, 1988) 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.

Career

Basketball career

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson
Listed height 206 cm (6 ft 9 in)
Listed weight 110 kg (240 lb)
Career information
Playing career 2006–2008
Position Center
Career history
2006–2007 K.R. Basket Reykjavík
2007–2008 FSu Selfoss basketball
Career highlights and awards
D2 Iceland National Basketball Team

Hafþór began his sports career as a basketball player. At 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)[1] and 110 kg (240 lb),[2] 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.[3]

For the 2007–2008 season, he moved to play professionally as center for the Icelandic Division 1 basketball team FSu Selfoss.[3]

Hafþór's basketball career ended after he suffered a severe knee injury at age 20.[4]

Strongman career

Hafþór Júlíus "Thor" Björnsson
Personal information
Occupation Strongman
Height 206 cm (6 ft 9 in)
Weight 185 kg (408 lb)

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.[4] Hafþór won several strongman contests in Iceland in 2010 including Strongest Man in Iceland, Iceland's Strongest Viking, Westfjords Viking,[5] and five of six events at the OK Badur Strongman Championships.[6]

Hafþór finished in second place at the inaugural Jón Páll Sigmarsson Classic in November 2010, behind Brian Shaw.[7] He won the 2011 Strongest Man in Iceland contest on June 4, 2011,[8] and the 2011 Iceland's Strongest Man contest on June 18, 2011.[9]

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.[10]

World's Strongest Man

Hafþór took part in World's Strongest Man after earning a wild card invitation to the 2011 contest.[11] 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[12] to Žydrūnas Savickas and again in the 2016 event to Brian Shaw.[13]

Acting

Hafþór was cast as Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane for the fourth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones in August 2013.[14] 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 5, season 6 and season 7.[15] Hafþór was cast for the role of Mongkut in the 2017 film Kickboxer: Retaliation.

Personal records

Training lifts

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2016 Zon 261 Big John – Icelandic Viking Squad
2017 Devilish Deeds Psycho Phil Bell Currently in pre-production
2017 Kickboxer: Retaliation Mongkut Currently filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2012–2016 The World's Strongest Man Himself – competitor
2014–present Game of Thrones Gregor Clegane Recurring role
2015 A League of Their Own Himself Series 9, Episode 7
2016 Heavy Bubbles Himself

References

  1. "Hafthor Bjornsson". www.strongman.org. Strongman. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  2. Skipper, Clay (2016-01-26). "The Mountain from Game of Thrones Explains How He Got So Damn Big". GQ. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  3. 1 2 Eurobasket: Hafþór Björnsson page
  4. 1 2 Magnus Ver Magnusson: Icelandic Strongman Scout. Ironmind.com (May 29, 2010). Retrieved on 2014-03-30.
  5. Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. vodvafikn.net
  6. Haffþór Júlíusson Björnsson wins Iceland’s OK Budar Strongman Contest. Ironmind.com (August 10, 2010). Archived on December 10, 2011.
  7. Brian Shaw Wins the Inaugural Jon Pall Sigmarsson Classic Strongman Contest. Ironmind.com (November 22, 2010). Retrieved on 2014-03-30.
  8. Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Wins the Strongest Man in Iceland. Ironmind.com (June 6, 2011). Retrieved on 2014-03-30.
  9. Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Wins Iceland’s Strongest Man. Ironmind.com (June 19, 2011). Retrieved on 2014-03-30.
  10. "Hafthor Wins World's Strongest Viking, Sets Sights on World's Strongest Man". IronMind. 1 January 2015.
  11. Giants Live–Poland: Radzikowski, Jenkins and Baron Make WSM Cut . . . Bjornsson Gets Wild Card. Ironmind.com (August 8, 2011). Retrieved on 2014-03-30.
  12. Cindy Boren (May 19, 2014). "'Game of Thrones' villain is second-strongest man in the world". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  13. Iceland Review: Hafþór Júlíus Runner up in World’s Strongest Man Comp
  14. "Mountain Recast". WinterIsComing.net. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
  15. "The Mountain in Belfast, and Game of Thrones filming in Split continues despite flooding". Watchers On The Wall. September 13, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  16. 1 2 Jay Hathaway (June 4, 2014). "Watch The Mountain from Game of Thrones Deadlift Almost 1,000 Pounds". Gawker.com. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  17. "Thor and Benny Magnusson, 420 and 445 Kg Deadlift". YouTube.com. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  18. "The Mountain from 'Game of Thrones' Breaks 1,000-Year-Old Weightlifting Record". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 4, 2015.


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