The Mountain Hafthor Bjornsson has finally announced his retirement from the Strongman competition. It was a heartbreaking yet proud moment for all his fans. Moreover, the news came on the very weekend following his 10th consecutive victory for the title of Iceland’s Strongest Man. Bjornsson took the opportunity to pen down an Instagram post that he shared soon after the announcement. Along with the post, he also shared a picture of his wife Kelsey Henson by his side.
In his post, he recalled all the good moments in his decade-long Strongman career. He says that it was a happy feeling for him to finish his career in such a proud way after winning the 10th consecutive title. Bjornsson further adds that it is time for him to begin another journey and that he is already excited. ‘The Mountain’ expressed his gratitude and respect towards the title. However, he says that he wants to take a long break from the world of sports for now. The post also has a note of reassurance in which he says that his decision may not be the final one. However, he just feels that his family needs him more right now, and more so because he and Kelsey are soon expecting a child.
Will Hafthor Bjornsson return to WSM again?
Hafthor Bjornsson further puts an end to all the speculation by stating that he was unsure whether he will want to return to sports any more. However, he does not want to say ‘never’ because he feels that it is too early for that. He assures his fans that as a 31-year old he has a lot of time left to think over his decision. Besides, there is always an option to get back to it if his heart feels like it. Right now, he is listening to his heart too which says that he needs to take care of his health and be with his family. Bjornsson proudly puts up the picture of how he has added the recent award to his trophy wall.
According to several people, Hafthor Bjornsson’s retirement decision was not very shocking after his decision to not competing this year. Yes, he did make an announcement back in May this year that he is not willing to compete for the Strongman title this year. The same was postponed until November 2020.
Bjornsson is one of the most successful as well as popular strongmen in the past few years. His outright win in WSM 2018 was inspiring, and also put the spotlight on the game. Now people all across the world are aware of the sport. Besides, Bjornsson’s popularity increased after he played an important character in Game of Thrones.
The upcoming match
While Bjornsson is not going to be a part of the WSM competition, he will still participate in other areas. We are now waiting for his much-awaited boxing match that will take place in September 2021 in Las Vegas. Here he will compete against Eddie Hall, his long-time rival.
In an Instagram post, Hafthor Bjornsson said that the first half of 2021 will be dedicated solely to this anticipated match. There has been an exchange of words between Hall and Bjornsson about the upcoming match. There was an escalation regarding this match earlier when Bjornsson broke Hall’s record in May 2020. The WSM champion lifted a huge 1,105 pounds that broke all previous world records. Both the WSM former champions have always been a social media loggerheads and called each other out.
