MAN MOUNTAIN
Hafþór Björnsson never trained any strongman movements before his first competition in 2009. As a 6ft 7”, lanky teenager, he had always been focused on his dream of becoming a pro basketball player. But when a recurring ankle injury knocked his career off course, he turned to bodybuilding as a way to improve his physique. Ronnie Coleman and Dorian Yates became two of Björnsson’s biggest role models. They trained heavy, which resonated with him.
“Those guys were my inspiration,” he says. “I watched more bodybuilders, to be honest with you, than strongman guys.”
And although ‘looking good’ was his main motivation, the heavy weights soon led Björnsson to powerlifting. It was this pursuit that brought him to former deadlift world-record holder Benedikt Magnússon’s Super Gym in Iceland.
Origin story
One day, while Björnsson was doing (presumably very
