Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane) strikes again. The Game of Thrones actor and international strongman has a habit of turning up every once in a while to surprise, delight, and bewilder us with scenes from his very eventful life. Oh, he played tug-of-war with a tractor? Oh, he sparred with UFC champion Conor McGregor? Oh, he broke a thousand-year-old strength record by hefting a massive wooden log onto his shoulders? That’s our Mountain.
Now he’s done it again. While at Giants Live Sweden, a strongman event, Björnsson broke the world record for the keg toss by heaving a 33-pound beer keg 7.05 meters (just over 23 feet) into the air. Observe.
I appreciate Björnsson’s showmanship, as he works up the crowd prior to performing his feat of strength and then picks up a guy I’m going to assume isn’t a stranger for a victory lap around the floor. “He could kill me right now,” the guy may be thinking. That’s what I’d be thinking, anyway.
According to the Giants Live website, Björnsson didn’t consider his record-breaking throw to be any big thing. “It was easy!” he said. “I could have broken the roof, it was amazing to do this in front of the grea crowd. Bring on Europe’s Strongest Man.” Bring on Game of Thrones Season 6, too, where Björnsson should now be even more intimidating than before, what with the array of titles under his belt. I feel bad for whoever Cersei sics him on.
Fortuitously, Björnsson’s keg toss lined up more or less with his birthday—he turned 27 this past Thursday (being from Iceland, the fun fact about his birthday being on Thanksgiving probably means little to him). Here he is blowing out the candles on his birthday cake. In one blow.
Happy birthday, Hafþór! See you in April.
Next: Spoilers from Northern Ireland include info on the new Lord Commander of the Night's Watch