The Record

Tomorrow, Hafthor Bjornsson is going to try to lift more weight than any human has ever lifted off the ground.

He has done this before. He set the world deadlift record in 2020: 501 kilograms, which is 1,104 pounds, which is more than some cars. The record stood. Then someone else broke it. Then that person's record stood. Now Hafthor would like his back.

He is doing this at the Enhanced Games.

The Enhanced Games are a new athletic competition where performance-enhancing substances — the kind that are banned in the Olympics — are permitted. Athletes must disclose what they are taking. They are then allowed to take it. The Enhanced Games tracks records separately from the records kept by standard sporting bodies.

(This means there are now two sets of records. One set reflects what a human can do. The other set also reflects what a human can do, but a different kind of human. The Enhanced Games has not clarified which kind is the official kind. This question appears to be ongoing.)

Hafthor, who is 37 years old and approximately the size of a refrigerator, has competed in both types of events. He holds records in some of them. Tomorrow he will attempt to hold a record in a new one.

The record will be recorded. It will go into a ledger. Someday someone will try to break it. That person will also be allowed to take the substances. The ledger will be updated.

Whether this record is a record in the sense people mean when they say record is a question that Hafthor has not addressed publicly. He is busy preparing to lift 520 kilograms. That is 1,146 pounds. That is also more than most cars.

The record will be set by someone tomorrow. It is not yet determined whether it will count. Hafthor will not be checking.