2017 World’s Strongest Man Eddie Hall made headlines in recent days due to comments he made in reference to distrusting Icelandic athletes; these were made when objecting to the arrangements made by Hafthor Bjorsson when he attempts to break Hall’s 500 kg Deadlift world record. On April 10, Hall shared a post on Instagram that included an apology for those comments. Even though he expressed regret for what he made about the Icelandic people overall, he maintains his position when it comes to Bjornsson and what he called “his entourage”.
“Firstly & most importantly, I would like to apologise for my comment in a live YouTube Q&A where I said I didn’t trust the Icelandics; LINK IN BIO↖️ A very poor choice of words when put on the spot. In reality this couldn’t be further from the truth. I was specifically referring to Thor & his entourage that accompany him to every competition. You’ll not see this from the public’s perspective or on TV, but their attitude & behaviour is generally intimidation & bullying if even the smallest thing doesn’t go Thor’s way. Talk about unsportsmanlike like and unprofessional behaviour, you’ve got it right here.”
The dispute between the two WSM winners goes back to when Hall won his title. Bjornsson had disputed a call that disallowed reps he performed on the Viking Press. Hall went on to win that event which helped him secure the overall victory. Hall explained his side of the disagreement again later on in the same social media post which includes images from that contest and goes on to mention four-time WSM Champion and current official Magnus Ver Magnusson. Magnusson is scheduled to be on hand for Bjornsson’s record-breaking attempt.
“At WSM 2017 Thor would not accept a certain referee’s decision on a certain event (Swipe left). He called into disrepute the judging skills of a referee which was then looked at by 3 referees & the decision was given to the legend that is Magnus Ver Magnusson who stood his ground and has since been appointed head referee at WSM, but now Thor will take his word as golden to be the judge at his 501kg deadlift attempt, talk about hypocrisy? He’ll drag his name through mud or place it upon a pedestal to suit his objective.”
Hall concludes the statement by again calling into question the standards and settings of Bjornsson’s event, currently scheduled to take place on May 2nd, but does say he feels the three-time Arnold Strongman Classic Champion is the man that could pull 501 kg.
“Because of the malicious rumours Thor & his team started I’ve endured years of people questioning what is the crowning achievement of my career. Well guess what pal, you break my record in your home gym with a bunch of your pals, you’re going to get the same treatment. Absolutely no legitimate sport would acknowledge World Records broken out of competition & you are undermining the very sport you are claiming to champion. I genuinely look forward to having my record broken & seeing what is possible. 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. For the record I feel the same way about the other “records” that are being attempted, it just doesn’t feel right & there are 1000s of strength fans & athletes that feel the same way. Break a record in a comp where other people can contest it & no one will have a negative word to say, including myself.”
As of this writing, Bjornsson had yet to respond to Hall’s latest post but it’s hard to believe that this war of words is going to end anytime soon.
Featured image: @eddiehallwsm on Instagram
