Oh my gourd! Hippo-sized pumpkin is world’s biggest

Agencies | Los Angeles                                  

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A monster pumpkin weighing the same as a hippopotamus has claimed the world record for the mightiest gourd -- and bagged its grower a $30,000 prize.

Travis Gienger squashed the competition with his enormous fruit weighing in at an improbable 2,749 pounds (1,247 kilograms) at the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival in California on Monday.

An orange-shirted Gienger punched the air and offered hugs all round after the weigh-in, as Queen’s “We Are The Champions” blasted out, according to video from the event. The contest, in its 50th year, pits growers of mega-gourds from all over North America against each other to see who can produce the biggest berry.

Gienger, from Minnesota, pipped his nearest rival by a hefty 250 pounds to walk away with this year’s title. He also bagged a new world record in the process, besting an Italian effort from 2021 which tipped the scales at a relatively svelte 2,703 pounds, organizers said, and claimed the $30,000 in the process.

The grand champion gourd will be on display in Half Moon Bay this weekend when the town hosts its Art and Pumpkin Festival.