The World’s Strongest Man champion told an ESPN reporter that he used steroids in 2017.
Hafthor Julius Bjornsson, the professional strongman who may be best known for his role of Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane in the HBO series Game of Thrones, has admitted to using anabolic steroids according to a new interview broadcast by ESPN.
Bjornsson confessed to using anabolic steroids during a lengthy interview conducted for the award-winning ESPN series “E:60” in 2017. The portions of the interview related to Bjornsson steroid use were broadcast for the very first time on April 14, 2019.
The Mountain was unapologetic about his use of muscle-building drugs.
Bjornsson was directly asked if he used anabolic steroids to become so incredibly strong and massively muscular. The 6-foot-9-inch and over 400-pound strongman unapologetically confirmed his performance-enhancing drug use.
“Yes, I have,” Bjornsson said. “When you want to be the best, you do whatever it takes.”
ESPN pressed for details about his steroid use such as the types and quantities of steroids used by Bjornsson. He was also asked if he currently used steroids.
Bjornsson thought better of going along with the line of questioning and asked to “just skip those questions”. After all, anabolic steroids and other PEDs are officially banned by the World’s Strongest Man (WSM) organization.
Of course, everyone had long ago assumed that Bjornsson, as well as all of the other top strongman champions, used anabolic steroids and other muscle-building substances.
We wonder why ESPN decided to make a big deal of Bjornsson’s steroid confession after quietly holding on to the interview footage for two years.
It could simply be another example of the mainstream news media placing athletic heroes on pedestals only to seek out ways it can topple them down.
Bjornsson is a the peak of his success as both an actor and a strongman.
Bjornsson has gained worldwide recognition and popularity for his recurring role of Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane on Game of Thrones. Bjornsson has played ‘The Mountain’ since the fourth season in August 2013. The average number of worldwide viewers per episode now exceeds 30 million.
But Bjornsson has not become complacent as a strongman due to his acting success. Bjornsson dominated his opponents in professional strongman competitions throughout 2018.
Bjornsson won the 2018 Iceland’s Strongest Man, 2018 Arnold Strongman Classic, 2018 Europe’s Strongest Man and the 2018 World’s Strongest Man.
Bjornsson has also started off 2019 with repeat victories at the Europe’s Strongest Man and the Arnold Strongman Classic.
Perhaps ESPN thought it could plant the seeds of a new steroid scandal surrounding Bjornsson at the upcoming 2019 World’s Strongest Man in Florida on June 13th-16th. Bjornsson is a huge favorite to repeat as the 2019 World’s Strongest Man champion as well.
But honestly, it is doubtful that anyone really cares if Bjornsson is using steroids or not.