Body builder sets new world record

Khilji lifted 16kg over 10,000 times for 7 hours and 15 minutes.

MULTAN:
Locals danced to the beat of drums in the streets of Jalalpur Pirwala to celebrate the new record set by bodybuilder Zahid Khilji.

Khilji reportedly set a new world record by lifting a 16kg weight over 10,000 times. The 23-year-old man lifted the weight for over seven hours and 15 minutes.

“I used to lift weights for four hours every morning and five hours at night and now I can lift weight for longer periods of time at a stretch,” Khilji said. He said that he had broken the current Guinness record which was over five and a half hours and hoped that the government would sponsor him so he could demonstrate his skills in front of the Guinness panel.

Khilji is also a judo karate champion and has earned accolades in gymnastics and running along with a president’s pride of performance award in bodybuilding. Khilji said that his greatest wish since his childhood had been to be break a Guinness record.


“I want my accomplishment to be recognised officially and for my name to be included in the Guinness book. I have worked hard every day to be able to lift weight for long periods of time and I hope that the government helps me achieve my dream,” he said.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s brother Ahmed Mujtaba Gilani awarded Khilji with a cash prize and trophy after he set the new record. “The government will be told to promote Zahid so that his name can be included in the Guinness book of records and we will work to see that he is provided funding,” Gilani said.

Residents of the area celebrated the event and said they were proud of Khilji.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2010.
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