Hafthor Bjornsson may have tied for first at Day One of the 2019 World’s Strongest Man competition, but it came at a cost for the returning champ. During the second event of the day, Bjornsson, known for playing “The Mountain” in Game of Thrones, tore his plantar fascia, the fibrous tissue that connects the heel bone to the toes.
The competition, which is taking place in Bradenton, FL, is broken up into five groups of five competitors. Yesterday, each group competed in a 70-foot monster truck pull and a farmer’s walk/yoke medley.
It was during the Giants Medley—which saw each competitor carry 378-pound farmer handles in each hand before transitioning to a 1,012-pound yoke carry followed by a 1,338-pound yoke carry—that Bjornsson suffered the injury. At the 1:33 mark in the video below, you can see him limping from the end of the farmer’s walk to the first yoke.
He struggled to move the yoke across the line and had to call it quits before the final yoke carry. In the end, American competitor Rob Kearney won the event in 34.06 seconds.
Even with the injury, Bjornsson is tied for first with 7 points. Still, it’s not as strong as a lead as Thor was probably hoping for. Now, Bjornsson will have to make up ground in the next two events, a max deadlift and overhead press for reps, which he plans on competing in, according to his Instagram.
