Guinness World Record issues reminder on criteria for breaking/setting records as claims pile up

By Mike Klaus

The recent recognition by the Guinness World Record awarded to Nigerian chef, Hilda Baci for the longest cooking marathon, otherwise known as cook-a-thon seems to have raised the adrenaline in many Africans to embark on similar adventures.

Days, after the record was set by the Nigerian chef, a Liberian chef, announced his desire to break the same record. Chef Dammy, another Nigerian from Ekiti state decided to cook for 120 hours to beat the previous record set by Hilda at 93 hours 11 minutes.

Unfortunately, however, most of the attempts, and many others have not been considered by the Guinness World Record. The organization nevertheless reacted to claims of these records with a reminder to all participants.

The GWR has republished the criterion necessary for all aspiring record holders to abide by if they are to legitimately be considered. Firstly, the participant must declare their intention to participate in a record-breaking activity and will have to be authorized.

“Make sure you know your stuff and come in with some prior knowledge, and then if your application is all good to go, we’ll send you the guidelines.” It has been specified on the official website of the Guinness World Record to all potential participants.

Just like was the case with Chef Dammy, the organization also reminded that “Unfortunately there have been times when someone is sure they’ve set a new record but we’ve had to disqualify them because they haven’t properly followed the guidelines.”

There also exist records to be set, which have never been attempted before according to GWR. Anyone attempting these must also follow a set of principles. “They have to be achievable, but also breakable, and most importantly, they have to be open to everyone and something we can actually measure,” It specified.

“And records have to be measurable and standardisable too. I’m sure lots of people would love for their child to be named ‘most beautiful baby’ but we couldn’t possibly measure that as beauty is in the eye of the beholder!” It adds.