Gymnast to local media: I won’t give up on record cartwheel dreams

Gymnast and martial artist Gaber al-Kahlawy says he’s preparing to break the world record for the most cartwheels performed in one minute — once again.

Indian Yash Kumar Patel held the previous world record for doing 63 cartwheels in one minute. Kahlawy won the title for himself when he spun around 67 times in just 60 seconds at the Cairo University Stadium on March 29, 2015, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

The young athlete recently told local media outlets he was preparing to beat his own record by performing 72 cartwheels in a minute, though he has not yet announced a date for the spectacle.

It will be an exhausting feat requiring a great deal of balance, coordination and physical endurance, Kahlawy explained in an interview with the satellite channel Al-Hayah.

Egyptian athletes hold several other world records — bodybuilder Mustafa Ismail for his 31 inch biceps, or Ahmed Gabr for the deepest saltwater scuba dive — but Kahlawy was the first Egyptian gymnast to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.

However, neither the national gymnastics federation nor local martial arts clubs have supported his dreams of breaking records by cartwheeling, he told the privately owned Youm7 news site. Kahlawy said his next ambition is to become an action movie star like Jackie Chan.