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Monday’s Hot Clicks: ‘The Mountain’ Loses World’s Strongest Man Crown

First he lost to The Hound, and now this. 

Dan Gartland

Veli Gurgah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

First he lost to The Hound, and now this

Thor Bjornsson is no longer “The Mountain” and now he’s no longer the World’s Strongest Man. 

The hulking Icelander (6'9", over 400 pounds) best known for playing the enormous Gregor Clegane on Game of Throneswon the World’s Strongest Man competition last year for the first time in his career. This year, though, he’ll have to settle for being only the third-strongest man in the world.

This year’s WSM competition was held over the weekend in Florida and the winner was 28-year-old Latvian-born American Martins “The Dragon” Licis, who earned his first-ever podium finish at the event. Bjornsson took third, while Mateusz Kieliszkowski of Poland was runner-up. 

A crucial moment for Bjornsson came in the loading race against Kieliszkowski, when he let time slip off the clock by dropping an anvil. 

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A third-place finish is still incredibly impressive for Bjornsson, who battled through a torn plantar fascia suffered on the first day of competition. His bronze medal gives him eight straight top-three finishes at the World’s Strongest Man. He told SI.com in December that he wanted to do “at least one more year of strongman,” so we’ll see if he’s back in 2020 to try to take back his crown. 

A meltdown of epic proportions

Auburn had one of the worst ninth-inning collapses you’ll ever see in its College World Series opener against Mississippi State.

The Tigers led 4–1 headed into the bottom of the ninth, but the Bulldogs tied the game when third baseman Edouard Julien airmailed a throw to first that would have been the final out. 

Four batters later, Marshall Gilbert drove in the winning run for MSU with a chopper up the middle that bounced off the pitcher’s glove. 

Here’s what the celebration looked like on the field after Dustin Skelton crossed the plate. 

“It sucks,” Julien, a sophomore from Quebec City, told reporters after the game. “I mean, we lost because I couldn’t make a throw.”

The loss sends the Tigers into the losers bracket, where they face Louisville in an elimination game on Tuesday. 

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Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.

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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).

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