Nearly half a kilometer of artificial hair, 35 hours of work, and a model who had to stuff the growing braid into a bag whenever he needed to move. A team from Kazakhstan has officially entered Guinness World Records after creating the world’s longest hair extension created by a team.
The record was set in Almaty on December 7, 2024, although the verification and confirmation process took considerably longer. Guinness World Records now officially lists the result at 490 meters, or 1,607 feet 7.3 inches.
The team consisted of braiding specialist Yelena Gorbatova, her husband Viktor Gorbatov, as well as Julia Beloborodova, Anastasia Kugukova, and Anara Arykova. Gorbatova told The Times of Central Asia that the team had initially hoped to reach the 500-meter mark.
Viktor Gorbatov served as the model. The task proved no less demanding for him than for the braiders: the work continued for almost two days, and as the braid grew longer, it had to be folded into a bag.
“My husband was the model. Who else would sit there for two days and understand how important this was? When the braid became large, we had to put it in a bag, and Viktor carried it with him everywhere. We took turns braiding,” said Gorbatova.
The finished extension weighed 7.8 kilograms. The entire process was filmed, and the final measurement was conducted in the presence of witnesses. The documentation was then submitted to Guinness World Records for verification.
For Gorbatova, the record was less about making the longest possible braid than about drawing attention to braiding as a profession in its own right.
“Many people know about hairdressers and colorists, but braiding has not yet gained the recognition it deserves. I wanted to introduce it to as wide an audience as possible. I wanted people to simply say, ‘Wow,’” she said.
Kazakhstan has been the site of a number of unusual Guinness World Records. In 2003, a total of 4,845,098 people across the country took part simultaneously in the same exercise routine. Guinness still lists the achievement as the largest exercise demonstration or class held across multiple venues.
In 2014, 856 kilograms of baursaks were prepared in Almaty. Guinness registered the achievement as the largest serving of doughnuts, with the traditional Kazakh food prepared by a team of 35 people.
Another Kazakh record belongs to the Shymbulak Mountain Resort near Almaty. In 2023, its night skiing slope, at an altitude of 3,200 meters, was recognized as the highest night skiing slope in the world.
In 2025, meanwhile, 252 one-humped camels took part in a record-setting parade in the Almaty region. The camels completed a one-kilometer course, exceeding Guinness’s minimum requirement of 200 animals and setting the record for the largest parade of one-humped camels.
