the Icelandic 1. deild karla club Breiðablik in 2004. The following season, he transferred to FSu Selfoss, but after about ten games, it was discovered that he had been playing with a broken bone in his ankle and required surgery. After recovering, in 2006, Hafþór moved to KR in the Icelandic top-tier Úrvalsdeild. However, after a screw in his ankle shattered, he had to undergo a second surgery in November, forcing him to miss the rest of the season. To commence the 2007–2008 season, Hafþór moved back to play for FSu Selfoss and averaged 6.7 points per game, helping the team to achieve a promotion to the Úrvalsdeild. Unfortunately, the troublesome ankle continued and ultimately forced him to retire from basketball at the age of nineteen, shattering his dream of making it to the NBA one day. Between 2004 and 2006, Hafþór played 32 games for the Icelandic junior national basketball teams and 8 with Iceland's U-18 national team in Division A of the U18 European Championship. In May 2004, he won the Nordic championship with the U-16 team. During the 2004 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship Division B, he helped Iceland achieve promotion to Division A. In 2006, he won the Nordic championship again, this time with the U-18 team. Strongman career After recovering from the ankle injury, and inspired by Ronnie Coleman and Dorian Yates, Hafþór trained like a bodybuilder. One day, when four-time World's Strongest Man champion Magnús Ver Magnússon spotted the twenty-year-old, 6 ft 9 in, 140 kg (308 lb) Hafþór deadlifting in his gym, "Jakaból", he immediately realized his potential as a good prospect for strongman, which paved the way for Hafþór to train with Stefán Sölvi Pétursson, Benedikt Magnússon, Páll Logason, and Ari Gunnarsson. The following year, while training at the "Strongman Base" gym, Hafþór was nicknamed Ljónið (the Lion) by Stefán Sölvi Pétursson, because he continuously grew bigger and got stronger, eventually reaching his heaviest body weight ever, of 210 kg (463 lb), in 2012. Iceland's Strongest Man With his newfound friendships and guidance, Hafþór progressed in the sport and went on to win several strongman contests in Iceland multiple times from 2009 onwards, including Westfjord's Viking, Eastfjord Strongman Championships, Highland Viking, Iceland's Strongest Viking, OK Badur Strongman Championships, Akranes Strength Challenge, and Strongest Man in Iceland. After placing third behind his friends Pétursson and Magnússon in 2010, Hafþór won his first Iceland's Strongest