Iceland review - 2019, Page 112

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Iceland Review
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or pulling freight trucks (Theodór himself has
been struggling with a back injury). The toll that
the training and the diet take on the strongman’s
body – not to mention the open secret of steroid
use, which Theodór and I don’t discuss – has caused
friction among his family.
“Following the death of Jón Páll Sigmarsson,”
Theodór says, “people began saying things like,
‘You’ll kill yourself if you go into this sport.’”
Before the Mountain, there was Magnús Ver
Magnússon, and before Magnús Ver Magnússon,
there was Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Iceland’s most
famous strongman and four-time World’s Strongest
Man titleholder. He was a hero to every boy grow-
ing up in the ’80s, until his sudden death in 1993.
Having popularised the sport in Iceland, he died at
the age of 32, doing what he loved most: deadlifting.
During his lifetime, Jón Páll was the promulgator of
many memorable quotes, among them, “What’s the
point of being alive if you can’t deadlift?” – a saying
that has since acquired a somewhat paradoxical
shade. The official cause of Jón Páll’s death was an
aortic rupture, which some say was the result of a
genetic condition; however, it’s not unlikely that
steroid use, combined with the intensity of Jón
Páll’s training, along with the incredible vacillations
in weight that he underwent – competing, as he did,
alternately in bodybuilding and strongman – exac-
erbated the condition.
“Jón Páll’s death has engendered prejudice toward
the sport,” Theodór says, “and among my family.
But I try to reason with them. I try to tell them that
this is what makes me happy and that I hope that
they support me...”
As he says this, his train of thought is cut short by
barbaric screams ringing out from the gym.
“Something crazy’s going on out there,” Theodór
says, glancing over his shoulder and smiling.
In light of the injuries, the weight gain, the CPAP
machines, and more, I wonder what it is that
attracts people like Theodór to the sport. It may
have something to do with Icelandic culture.
“Following the death of Jón Páll
Sigmarsson, people began saying things
like, ‘You’ll kill yourself if you go into this
sport.”

Theodór Már
Guðmundsson