Hafthor Bjornsson, an Icelandic native who plays a character called “The Mountain” on “Game of Thrones,” was named the Strongest Man in the World on Sunday in the Philippines after completing events such as pulling a truck or an airplane, carrying a refrigerator, lifting a stone weighing 1,000 pounds, and more.
Bjornsson, 29, is best known on “GoT” for crushing a man’s head with his bare hands (fictionally, of course). He'd said as far back as 2016 that he was working toward the title, and that he had competed in the competition eight times, coming in second and third place three times each in those competitions.
Bjornsson set a new deadlift record in March at 1,041 pounds, CBS Sports reported, and also won Europe’s Strongest Man for the second year in a row and fourth time overall.
His win Sunday was the first time anyone from Iceland has won the World’s Strongest Man competition.
The competition will air on CBS and CBS Sports Network between June 10 and Sept. 2, CBS Sports reported.
The athlete told Men’s Fitness recently that he has to force-feed himself 10,000 calories of eggs, rice, and steak a day and that it’s “a full-time job” to be the size he is.
Bjornsson celebrated the achievement on Facebook and Instagram, thanking friends, family, his team and trainers for their help and support.
Twitter was congratulatory of Bjornsson’s accomplishment.
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