Hafthor 'The Mountain' Bjornsson Stays in 2019 World's Strongest Man with Injury

Icelandic powerlifter Hafthor Bjornsson continued the defence of his World's Strongest Man title on Friday despite suffering a torn plantar fascia on Thursday.

The Mountain was forced to stop during the second event, the Giants Medley, while carrying the super yoke and offered an update on his condition on Instagram.

"Quick update guys. I had an MRI yesterday evening and was informed that I have torn my plantar fascia during the Farmers and Yoke medley. This injury will bring me a lot of pain and discomfort but the good news is I’m able to keep going with some pain management. Let's do this!! #BackToBackChamp. Thanks for all the support guys I love you all."

Bjornsson had started the defence of his title well before the injury. He topped the standings in the Monster Truck Pull with a time of 34.36 seconds:

The 30-year-old's injury saw him miss out on points in the second event, but he remained at the top of Group 1 on seven points along with Germany's Raffael Gordzielik and Great Britain's Luke Stoltman, per Aiman Zubair at Fitness Volt.

Bjornsson's injury problems did not seem to affect him on Friday, as he came back strongly and won the opening round of the dead lift competition.

Starting Strongman showed the scores:

The Mountain was then involved in a tie in the log press:

Bjornsson's comeback on Friday will allay fears over his injury problems and keeps him on course to retain his title in Bradenton, Florida.