in history to win the Arnold Strongman Classic three times in a row, after Žydrūnas Savickas. World's Ultimate Strongman In 2018, Hafþór won the inaugural World's Ultimate Strongman, held in Dubai, in a stacked field of twelve athletes. This year also marked the most dominant calendar year in strongman history, with Hafþór winning the Iceland's Strongest Man, Europe's Strongest Man, World's Strongest Man, World's Ultimate Strongman, and the Arnold Strongman Classic. Also from 2018 onwards, Hafþór significantly increased his static strength under the mentoring of his strength coach since 2016, Sebastian Oreb, and increased his squat to during training and during Thor's Powerlifting Challenge. In February 2020, Hafþór deadlifted for two reps and became the first person in history to deadlift 1,000 lb for two reps. Two weeks later, he deadlifted an unofficial world record on the elephant bar, with . All of the lifts were performed raw (only wraps for squats and straps for deadlifts). On 2 May 2020, Hafþór deadlifted under strongman rules (standard bar with figure-eight straps and single-ply suit) at Thor's Power Gym, Kópavogur, Iceland, while being refereed by Magnús Ver Magnússon under the sanctioning of World's Ultimate Strongman, and broke the near-four-year strongman deadlift world record of , by Eddie Hall. The lift was globally televised live by ESPN, and the Guinness World Records verified it as 'the Heaviest Deadlift of all time'. In August 2020, Hafþór announced his retirement from strongman competitions. Rogue Invitational and comeback After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus from competitive strongman, Hafþór announced his retirement from boxing, having already gone back to strength training. A couple of weeks later, on 30 October 2022, he participated in the 2022 Rogue Invitational in Austin, Texas, and threw the Scottish Highland Games weight over , using one arm for a new world record. He also indicated his comeback to competitive strongman and powerlifting. Competitive record Strongman Placements: 56 x 1st places, 12 x 2nd places and 11 x 3rd places = 79 x podium finishes from 96 total competitions. Winning percentage: 46.1% in International circuit & 84% at National circuit Podium percentage: 75.4% in International circuit & 97% at National circuit Top 5 percentage: 92.3% in International circuit & 100% at National circuit Powerlifting Despite the fact that Hafþór never trained specifically for powerlifting, he did two full competitions during his strongman career and another post-retirement. In the 2011 Íslandsmót tournament, at the age of