Icelandic man mountain Hafthor Bjornsson has said he could have obliterated the world deadlift record by a mammoth margin but settled for a modest 501kg (1,105lbs), as he discussed tensions with previous record holder Eddie Hall.
Bjornsson – who is famed for playing aptly-named character ‘The Mountain’ in Game of Thrones – set a new deadlift mark of 501kg last weekend at a gym in his homeland, with a limited number of people in attendance due to Covid-19 measures.
The 31-year-old muscleman added 1kg to the record formerly held by UK strongman Eddie Hall – who like Bjornsson is also a previous World’s Strongest Man winner.
But despite the colossal weight, Bjornsson incredibly appeared to achieve the feat with still more power left in the tank.
Speaking to TMZ, the Icelandic giant has revealed that to be the case – suggesting he could have added rounded the weight up to as much as 520kg.
“Honestly I can sit and say that I could have pulled comfortably 510kg [1,124 pounds], that’s just me being completely honest…. I could have pulled possibly, with a grind, 520kg [1,146 pounds],” he said.
“The thing people have to realize is when the weight is this heavy, every kilogram counts… even though 501kg looked easy, when you add another 9kg on it, it’s a lot.”
Bjornsson’s new record mark sparked a war of words with 32-year-old Hall – who despite wishing his fellow strongmen well before the event changed his tune afterwards, to the extent that the two goliaths have agree to collide in an uber-heavyweight boxing bout in Las Vegas next year.
Bjornsson has dismissed as nonsense any notion that his record is not legitimate because it wasn’t completed as part of competition with fans present.
“I honestly just think [Hall’s] trying to protect the thing that he had. For him that meant a lot to have the 500kg world record, he’s trying everything to believe that my record doesn’t count.
“But it does count, it’s a world record, that’s just how it is.
“He can talk or say whatever he wants… but in all honestly, I’m pulling 501[kg], doing it in front of people.
“I’ve been in this sport more than a decade, and when you compete with a crowd it gives you an adrenaline rush to perform better.
“When you just do it with a just a camera crew and a referee, it doesn’t feel the same.”
Bjornsson avoided outright trash-talk ahead of his proposed bout with Hall in Las Vegas next September, but confessed that the strongman rivals were “not best friends.”
“I’m just focused on myself, on my life, staying busy, training hard. I’ve just finished a good training session, working on some boxing, I’m just focused on myself.
“I’m not too worried about what he’s doing. I can admit that we’re not best buds, you know.”
The fight between the pair – promoted by CoreSports – is unsurprisingly being billed as ‘The Heaviest Boxing Match in History’, with the 6ft 8in Bjornsson typically weighing in at around 200kg (440lbs) and the 6ft 2in Hall tipping the scales at around 165kg (360lbs)
And considering that Bjornsson seems likely to stretch his deadlift world record even further in future, the boxing ring could be the best chance that Hall has of settling the score with his Icelandic nemesis.
