How You Can Watch Hafthor Björnsson's World Record Deadlift Event
The Mountain is taking a shot at history.
Icelandic strongman Hafthor Björnsson is primed to take on a 501 kilogram (about 1,105 pound) deadlift to set a world record and a new standard in strength. There are four ways you can tune in live to watch the attempt on May 2, at 12 p.m. Eastern Time:
The lift will kick off a day full of ESPN ‘The Ocho’ programming on TV.
The feat would exceed the current world record held by Eddie Hall by a single kilogram—but that’s still no small feat. When Hall completed the lift in 2016, he had an extreme reaction. He bled from his eyes, ears, and nose, temporarily lost his vision, and admitted that he thought briefly that he was “going to die.”
Björnsson has shared most of his training leading up to the attempt via his YouTube channel, showing off a personal best pull of 470 kilograms (1,036 pounds) during his final heavy session. The strongman also lifted 480 kilograms (1,058 pounds) earlier this year, but that was using an Elephant bar, which is a specialized implement used for strongman competitions. The world record attempt will be attempted using a standard deadlift barbell, which Björnsson has said is an easier implement to use.
The attempt doesn’t come without controversy, however. Although the event is sanctioned and will be refereed by respected strongman official Magnus Ver Magnusson, Hall is not pleased that Björnsson plans to take down the record on his home turf in Iceland outside of a traditional competition. Hall, the 2017 World’s Strongest Man, said in a Q&A session that he “doesn’t trust the Icelandics” before retracting his statement and specifying that he doesn’t trust Björnsson and his team. “I genuinely look forward to having my record broken & seeing what is possible,” Hall wrote in a lengthy Instagram post. “I think you are probably the man to do it, there’s no denying that & I’ll still shake your hand afterwards and say well done… if you do it under the appropriate conditions.”
Björnsson, for his part, is undeterred by the controversy, and even told fellow strongman Brian Shaw that Hall’s animus fuels his competitive fire. More importantly, the Mountain told Shaw that he might not stop at 501. Björnsson confirmed that if he nails the 501 kilogram attempt and gets 200,000 followers on the Twitch platform (he’s sitting at close to 85k right now), he’ll attempt a 520 kilogram (1,146 pound) deadlift at the event.
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