Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, who plays The Mountain won the annual World's Strongest Man competition in the Philippines on Saturday after competing in various tests of strength over two days. The events included pulling a bus, in which he came second. Eventually, he racked up enough points to score the title. The actor took to Instagram to thank his family, friends, and fans.
Björnsson had broken a thousand-year-old Viking record in 2015 by lifting a 32 feet, 1433 pound log on his shoulders for five steps. He is also the first person to have ever won the Arnold Strongman Classic, Europe’s Strongest Man and World’s Strongest Man in the same calendar year.
The Icelandic giant, who stands at 206cm and weighs a whopping 200kg, had finished runner-up the past two years. The World’s Strongest Man was originally a made-for-TV American-based event in the 1970s, held at Universal Studios in California.
The 29-year-old actor and weightlifter is also a former professional basketball player and will reprise his role as Ser Gregor in the final season of Game of Thrones, which will air on HBO in 2019.