Hafthor Bjornsson claims he’ll “probably never compete” at World’s Strongest Man again in the wake of rival Eddie Hall’s “cheat” video.
There has been speculation the pair will face each in a Las Vegas boxing showdown next year after Bjornsson’s recent 501kg world-record deadlift sparked a fresh war of words between the rivals, The Sun reports.
The most recent clash came during the week when Hall shared a video put together by World’s Strongest Man qualifier hosts Giants Live using unseen footage from 2017’s event.
That year, Hall became the first Brit to be crowned the World’s Strongest Man since Gary Taylor in 1993, narrowly beating Bjornsson to first place in Botswana.
But Bjornsson, who won in 2018, claimed he was “cheated” out of the title by Hall and British referee Colin Bryce — who runs Giants Live — during the Viking Press component of the competition in 2017.
Recently released secret footage captured the moment Bjornsson — who played The Mountain on HBO’s Game of Thrones — was penalised a point that allowed Hall to win the event in a decision that left Bjornsson furious.
Hall claims the video proves the referee made the right call, but Bjornsson disagrees. It shows the 205kg monster lifting 13 reps, ignoring judges’ warnings that he was not holding the bar for long enough at the top of each rep above his head.
In the video Bjornsson is also warned about breaking the rules of the lift which demand only one push while the lifter’s legs are bent. The rules state the legs must be locked straight when the lift is being completed and a second illegal push from the body with bent legs results in the rep being disqualified.
Hall has accused Bjornsson of spending years smearing him with “lies” over the incident.
And Bjornsson now says he will no longer compete at World’s Strongest Man due to Giants Live’s involvement in Hall’s clip.
Revealing the shock news on a live Twitch stream, Bjornsson said: “I’m absolutely done.
“I would never in my life compete for Giants Live again, never.
“And I probably would never compete at World’s Strongest Man again ever and I’m probably retired.
“That was just the last straw for me, that BS video, and that Giants Live posted as well was just the last straw.
“Those motherf*****s went too far and I’m done with this.
“I’m not competing for those guys ever again.
“I might do Arnold, but Giants Live, never.”
This article first appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission
