Egyptian ‘strong man’ pulls ship with his teeth
HURGHADA, EGYPT—With nothing but grit, muscle and an iron jaw, a hugely popular Egyptian wrestler geared up for an extraordinary challenge on Saturday: pulling a 700-ton ship across the water with a rope held only by his teeth.
“Today, I have come to break the world record,” Ashraf Mahrous said in an interview in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Hurghada after the challenge.
It was no easy task but Ashraf Mahrous, also known by his nickname Kabonga, has dazzled before with his astonishing strength. Earlier this year, he pulled a train. He has also singlehandedly pulled a locomotive and four years ago, a truck.
With each achievement, his popularity has soared—children run after him in the streets, where he’s known simply as “strong man.”
With the ship pull, Mahrous, a 44-year-old native of the port city of Ismalia, hopes to get yet another recognition from the Guinness World Records.
Triumph by the Red Sea
The scene was set on Saturday at the shore in Hurghada. Mahrous first pulled a 700-ton ship, and to affirm his challenge he pulled two ships weighing approximately 1,150 tons together.
“I pulled them both, thanks to God, to prove to my friends and the whole world that God blessed me by being the strongest man in the world,” Mahrous said.
He said the current Guinness World Record is a 614-ton ship set in 2018.
Mahrous said he would send videos and photos of his attempt to Guinness World Records to be evaluated.
In preparation for the feat, Mahrous followed a protein- and iron-rich diet, consuming at least a dozen eggs, two whole chickens, and 5 kilograms of fish every day—all while training for two hours, three times a day.
It wasn’t his first ship pull. Six years ago, he tried for two hours before he managed to pull a 4,000-ton ship in the water, a rope strapped to his shoulders, for about 30 meters. The event was caught on video.
“I grunted and yelled as I pulled the ship, and I spoke to it, saying ‘It’s either me or you today,’” he told The Associated Press (AP) recently at his local gym in Cairo, where he trains daily.
Mahrous believes that speaking with the object he pulls beforehand helps him establish a connection and is key to his success. “It’s important for me to treat the object that I will pull as part of my body that moves along with my heartbeat,” he said.
Next, he plans to send a request to the Egyptian presidency for permission to pull a 263,000-ton submarine.
He also hopes someday to pull a plane using only his eyelid muscles.
