Areej Al Hammadi claimed the title for Most football 'hotstepper' ball control tricks in one minute

Walid Yari raised the bar on Most side jump push-ups in 1 minute

Records announced at the launch of Guinness World Records Day 2020
Assets available to download here:
Areej Al Hammadi: video + photos
Walid Yari: video + photos
 
29 July 2020 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Guinness World Records (GWR), the global authority on record breaking achievements, can today announce that the player of the UAE National Football Team, Areej Al Hammadi breaks the Guinness World Records title for Most football 'hotstepper' ball control tricks in one minute completing 86 repetitions in total, breaking the previous record stood at 56 in the UK. Moreover, Walid Yari is another Emirati who smashed the record title of Most side jump push-ups in 1 minute competing 33 flying pushups in a single minute, a big jump on the previous record stood at 26 in India. 

The two Emiratis achievements were announced at the launch of Guinness World Records Day 2020 (GWR Day) – themed Discover Your World – which is encouraging people to take on a new challenge now lockdown measures are easing, or simply turn a new found skill or talent into a world-record attempt. 

Known as ‘The Beast of the Middle East’, Walid is a 34-year old fitness professional and social media content creator.  He is taking the region by storm with a growing fan base of more than 650k+ followers on Instagram. From the different types of workouts, he posts on social media, describe him as ‘The Beast’ because, according to him, there was no one else in the Middle East doing his style of freestyle and aggressive workouts. 

“I encourage people to swap their burgers for burpees and get into shape with unique training routines that resemble something that can be visualised in a film,” said Yari. “I have been training almost all my life, and I was ready the minute I knew about Guinness World Records Day. So, I set up my cameras the next exact day, and filmed the entire scene to smash the previous record title,” said Walid. 

Areej has paved her way to the top of women football in the MENA region. She is a Creative Services professional by day, and a footballer by night. She lived most of her life chasing opportunities in football, forming football teams both in school and during higher studies in the American University in Dubai, and attending many of the women’s football championships within the MENA region. She finally made it to the UAE National Football Team. 

“I am incredibly proud to be Guinness World Records title holder and excited to help celebrate the launch of Guinness World Records Day this year. It is proud moment for me, for my country, and for women around the world. Why football? because it is my passion,” said Al Hammadi.