The Game Thrones actor Hafthor Bjornsson has set a world weightlifting record lifting 501kg. Mr Bjornsson, 31, set the record deadlifting. This is pulling weights the floor to the chest, and then raising the weights the head the arms fully extended. The actor broke the record his personal gym in his native Iceland. He lifted the barbell for two seconds and then dropped the weights. He roared delight at his achievement. His feat of power and strength was streamed by the sports broadcaster ESPN and posted Bjornsson's YouTube channel. The record was previously held a British man called Eddie Hall. In 2016, Mr Hall became the first man ever to lift 500kg.
Besides being an actor, Hafthor Bjornsson is a powerlifter. In 2018, he won the World's Strongest Man competition. He shot to fame when he portrayed Ser Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane the hit series Game of Thrones. He is 2.05m tall and weighs 195kg, so people have dubbed him a "man mountain". Bjornsson explained how happy he was breaking the deadlift record. He said: "I'm extremely proud, you know. I'm extremely happy....There's nothing better than proving people wrong. So many people didn't believe me. So many people said, '501kg is never going to go .'" He added: "I'm just absolutely speechless....I'm excited, super excited. This is huge me."
