Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, better known as The Mountain in Game of Thrones, casually deadlifted 970 lbs for viewers on Twitch in his ongoing pursuit at setting a new world record.
In addition to being the real-life face of Gregor Clegane, Björnsson is also an accomplished weightlifter and strongman, if you can’t tell by looking at him.
For his latest feat of inhuman strength, the Icelandic monster is attempting to break a deadlift world record set back in 2016, and based on how easy he made 970 lbs (or 440 kilos) look, he seems to be well on his way.
The current deadlift world record of 1102 lbs (500 kilos) was set by former English strongman Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall, who actually briefly lost consciousness after getting the weights down and setting the record.
Björnsson has made it known he’s gunning for the title, and it’s clear having to stay home won’t slow him down at all, with his family off-screen providing the appropriate Viking war cries of encouragement.
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After psyching himself up for a few moments The Mountain lifted the bar, which bent like a wet noodle from the weight, not once, but three times. Once his set was over, Björnsson let out a wild victory cry and proudly declared the 970 lbs he had just thrown around “lightweight.”
“F*ck yeah lightweight, let’s go!” the strongman bellowed. “501, I’m coming for you baby, I’m coming for you.”
501 kilos (or 1104 lbs) is the amount Björnsson will have to deadlift in order to take the world record, and even though he’s still about 60 kilos (132 lbs) away, what he’s lifting now is more than most of us normal-sized humans could even dream of.
The Mountain is still preparing for his world record attempt, which was originally scheduled to take place on May 2, in Bahrain. Björnsson has said he’ll still attempt the 501kg lift on the same day, but whether or not it will happen in the Middle East or at his home remains to be seen.
For what it’s worth, Björnsson has already locked up the record for most weight ever lifted on a Twitch stream, so a new world record is the obvious next step.