Hafthor Bjornsson—The Mountain on ‘Game of Thrones’—Wins World’s Strongest Man

Hafthor Bjornsson doesn’t just play a strong man on TV.

Hafthor Bjornsson doesn’t just play a strong man on TV. 

The enormous Icelandic man best known for his role as Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane on the HBO hit Game of Thrones won the World’s Strongest Man competition on Sunday in the Philippines. 

Bjornsson, 29, really is a mountain of a man, standing 6'9" and weighing in excess of 400 (very muscular) pounds. He was a basketball player until an ankle injury forced him into early retirement, at which point he turned his attention to strongman competitions and set out to become the world’s strongest man. 

Bjornsson’s first World’s Strongest Man appearance came in 2011 when he finished sixth. He has finished in the top three of every World’s Strongest Man since then but had never won the competition until Sunday. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (@thorbjornsson)

Bjornsson was in first place after the first round of events on Saturday, winning the car deadlift and also won the loading race on Sunday while placing well enough in the truck pull and atlas stones to take home the title.