Ibrahim Maqboolsab Arab, a 29-year old man from Bagalkot, won the traditional stone lifting competition, held as part of Hampi Utsav 2020, organised at Vidyaranya Peetha High School ground at Hosa Malapanagudi near Hampi on Saturday.
He lifted a 160-kg stone to win for the eighth consecutive year.
As Mr. Arab, a well-known stone lifter in North Karnataka, walked into the arena, the crowd whistled and applauded. As he lifted the heavy boulder up to his knees, the applause got louder and it gained in crescendo as the boulder was on his shoulder.
Mr. Arab, a native of Kalloli village at Jamkhandi taluk in Bagalkot, is a farmer by profession.
He is the winner of several awards and honours, including the Kreeda Ratna.
Anand Hosapet, another traditional weightlifter in the area, won the second prize by lifting a 135-kg boulder
The first and second prizes carried ₹15,000 and ₹10,000 cash respectively.
In the adjacent arena, a competition of dismantling and reassembling the wheels of a bullock-cart was held. Vankoba Banakeri of Hospet won the first prize with a time of 1.57 minutes.
Kanigaappa and M. Hanumantha, of Hospet, won the second and third prizes with 2.09 minutes, and 2.13 minutes respectively.
Two more contestants, Pratap and Ramu, completed the process in 2.25 minutes, and 2.27 minutes respectively.
