*Undated
Standing at 7 foot tall and weighing 146kg, Hafthor 'Thor' Bjornsson is a professional strongman and actor (The Mountain in Game of Thrones) and is the first person in history to win the Arnold Strongman Classic, Europe’s Strongest Man and World’s Strongest Man (WSM) in the same year.
Born in Reykjavik, Iceland on 26th November 1988, Bjornsson was a former basketball player, representing Icelandic Division I side Breidablik before moving to FS University in 2005.
However, his career on the court would be cut short after suffering a recurring ankle injury in 2008 that would permanently sideline him from the sport.
This subsequently led him to pursue a strongman career that turned out to be remarkably successful for Bjornsson, after winning the Strongest Man event in Iceland for two years in a row in 2010 and 2011.
The Daily Food He Eats:
If you really are what you eat, then Björnsson has earned his nickname as “The Mountain.”
The Icelandic athlete revealed how he eats five meals-a-day, but takes in far fewer calories than he used to during his competition days. “The calories I eat in a day are a lot less. I used to eat 10,000 calories a day, now I eat not even close to that." Thor revealed in an interview.
Family of Giants:
Björnsson’s family comprises of his parents and sister and there is no concrete information indicating he has brothers.
The strongman cum actor comes from a family of giants. His father, Björn, is 2.07 meters (6 ft 8 inches or 207 centimeters) tall, his mother, Ragnheiður, also has plenty of height on her side while his grandfather, Reynir, stands at a height of 210.5 centimeters (6 ft 9 1⁄2 inches).
Not much is really known about his sister Hafdís Lind Björnsdóttir but one thing that’s obvious is that the Björnsson’s are one big and happy family who has been supportive of Hafþór’s career right from the beginning.
Acting Career:
Bjornsson is best known for stepping into the role of Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane in season 4 of Game of Thrones, sticking around for the rest of the series. The strongman also played the villain in Kickboxer: Retaliation.
Hafthor Bjornsson does take on sporadic acting roles when his limited schedule does allow it. He will appear in the upcoming Robert Eggers' movie The North man.