Buzz
While not everyone is destined to earn an Olympic gold, win an Oscar, claim a Nobel Prize, or sell millions of albums, there is still a way for individuals to make their mark on history—by breaking a world record. With some creativity and determination, anyone can accomplish it.
That said, the opportunity to select which activity or challenge to pursue a world record in doesn’t mean there are no restrictions. Quite the opposite—when it comes to having a record approved by Guinness World Records, there are plenty of rules. Many have learned the hard way that they missed a key detail in the fine print, and in some cases, what appeared to be a world record has been dismissed due to a technicality. Here are ten of the most crushing and amusing rejections.
10. Consuming the Proof
In Northern Tehran, 2008, as the sun rises, 1,000 chefs gather before a large crowd and cameras. They’re preparing for the most unusual dish of their careers—a 4,921-foot (1,500-meter) long ostrich meat sandwich. It will take hours to assemble the 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) of meat, but the effort will pay off. They’re set to make a splash in promoting ostrich meat and, more importantly, they will break Italy's record of a 4,520-foot (1,378-meter) sandwich to take the world record.
At least, that was their hope before the eager crowd rushed toward the massive sandwich and began devouring it before Guinness officials could measure it. With no way to confirm its dimensions, they had no option but to deny the record. On a positive note, the secondary goal of raising awareness for ostrich meat in Iran did succeed.
9. Overloaded Materials
Interestingly, the largest food-related items don't always need to be crafted from the right ingredients to earn a world record. Take, for example, a colossal lollipop sculpture unveiled in Ravensthorpe, Australia, in 2019. Standing almost 26.3 feet (8 meters) tall and 13 feet (4 meters) wide, it was believed to be the largest lollipop in the world when it was revealed. However, its Guinness World Record application was turned down.
The reason wasn’t its immensity or the fact that it wasn’t edible. The issue was that the sculpture was made from aluminum and steel. To qualify, Guinness required that the sculpture be constructed from a single material. Despite the rejection, the town's residents remained optimistic. They hoped the lollipop would draw in tourists to their struggling town and spark more creativity and joy within the community.
8. The Matchstick Mishap
Frenchman Richard Plaud also faced misfortune when he chose the wrong material for his attempt to construct the world’s tallest Eiffel Tower model out of matchsticks. Completed in 2023, on the 100th anniversary of Gustav Eiffel’s passing, the model took Plaud eight years to build. Over 50 pounds (23 kilograms) of glue secured the 706,900 matchsticks, reaching 23 feet (7 meters) in height. However, he used the wrong type of matches. Plaud had bought them directly from a manufacturer who sold them to him without the red sulfur tips.
Guinness World Records officials stated that only “commercially available” matches are permitted. Since matches aren’t typically sold like this, the record was initially denied, even though the red tips would have been removed before use. This seemed like a harsh rejection of someone’s dream, but luckily for Plaud, someone at Guinness reconsidered. The following day, the officials reversed their decision and congratulated him on setting a new world record.
7. Not Your Average Nurse
World records can offer a path to stardom for those without elite athletic abilities. This is because some records are highly specific. For instance, running the fastest marathon is beyond most people, but running the fastest marathon dressed as a nurse is a more attainable goal. Jessica Anderson, a nurse and runner, almost broke the record for this feat while training for the London Marathon in 2019. So, she decided to make an official attempt that day.
Finishing in 3:08:22, she beat the existing record by 32 seconds. However, her application was rejected. Why? Because, according to Guinness, she wasn’t dressed as a nurse. She had opted for actual scrubs, but the record requirements specified a full nurse’s outfit with a cap and apron. After complaining about the outdated guidelines and gaining support from other nurses online, Guinness agreed to review their criteria and eventually granted her the record.
6. The “Turbaned Tornado” Was Too Aged to Prove He Was the Oldest
Earning a legendary nickname like the “Turbaned Tornado” might have softened the blow for this runner whose attempt to break the marathon record was rejected. Unfortunately for Fauja Singh, the decision wasn’t reversed. He couldn’t provide the required evidence to confirm his record. Singh was believed to have completed the marathon in Toronto in 2011 at the age of 100, setting the record for the oldest man to finish a full marathon.
He completed the race in over eight hours, with 14 minutes spent merely getting to the start line. No one disputes his extraordinary accomplishment of completing the marathon, but the issue was proving his age. Guinness demanded to see a birth certificate, but Singh couldn’t provide one, as official birth records weren’t kept in India in 1911, the year listed on his passport. Though he did receive a congratulatory letter from Queen Elizabeth II, sent to all her centenarian subjects, even this wasn’t enough to persuade Guinness to grant the record.
5. Left Hanging
Some Guinness World Records have age limitations. While it’s one thing to prevent someone from attempting a record due to age restrictions, what happens when they’ve already done it and not just succeeded, but shattered the previous record? In December 2023, the world learned the hard way. Sadly, it appears Guinness would rather stick to its rules than acknowledge the true record. This happened to Helena, a remarkably strong eight-year-old girl from Leeds, UK, who filmed herself holding a painful 35-minute dead hang.
The previous record for a female of any age was less than half of what Helena achieved, standing at exactly 12 minutes. However, Guinness disqualified her record due to her age. They stated that the intense physical nature of the challenge meant it could not be attempted by anyone under the age of 16. Despite pleas from Helena’s family and even their local Member of Parliament for a reconsideration, Guinness refused, resulting in a strange situation where at least one “official” world record is known to be incorrect.
4. Too Young to Set a Record
Another British youth who was denied a world record—actually two world records—was Lauren Booth. Despite living with cerebral palsy, Lauren became an exceptional velodrome cyclist who, by the time she was 13 in 2015, had set national records and could ride 200 meters around the track in under 15 seconds. A couple of years earlier, she completed the 200m at the Wales National Velodrome in 15.129 seconds, a time that would have broken the record, but it was dismissed because of her age.
In 2015, Lauren achieved an impressive 14.402-second time, setting a new personal best that she intended to use for her world record attempt. Unfortunately, the doping testers who were supposed to be present didn’t show up, meaning the record wouldn’t be valid. To make matters worse, her incredible time wouldn’t have been enough to set the record anyway, as it was broken just hours earlier in New Zealand.
3. A Titanic Collection
There are many world records for the “largest collection” of various items. Much like the scarecrow example mentioned earlier, anyone can create such collections with a bit of imagination, time, and the ability to gather many similar or related items in one place. However, according to Guinness, duplicate items do not count towards the total. It's easy to see why this rule exists, as officials surely don’t want to spend time verifying records for the world’s largest collections of sand or rice, for instance.
This rule means that places like factories and warehouses have a distinct advantage over individuals. In 2023, a Florida man with over 2,000 copies of Titanic on VHS tried to set the record but was turned down. Though he didn't get the record for the largest collection, his ultimate goal is to collect a million copies and use them to create a Titanic replica—hopefully a record-breaking one.
2. When a City Is Not One Place
Another popular way to break a world record is by organizing a gathering of a specific item or group. If you manage to get more of the same thing together in one location than ever before, you might just set a record. However, there are limits on what qualifies as one location, as the city of Hoschton, Georgia discovered in 2008 when they were denied the Guinness World Record for the most scarecrows.
In 2008, Hoschton tried to break the previous record of 3,311 scarecrows from Cincinnati, Ohio, by creating an even larger display. They surpassed the record by gathering 5,441 scarecrows, including some unique additions like a stuffed Elvis and Jesus. Despite having over 2,000 more scarecrows, Guinness refused to grant them the record.
Unlike in Cincinnati, where the scarecrows were showcased at a specific event, the ones in Hoschton were scattered across the city streets. According to Guinness officials, this method of display didn't qualify. Nonetheless, the organizers took pride in the community's participation and the attention the city garnered from the event.
1. Too Windy
In July 2022, Tobi Amusan of Nigeria was delivering an extraordinary performance at the World Athletics Championships during the women’s 100m hurdles. She set a new world record in her semi-final with a time of 12.12 seconds, 0.08 seconds faster than the previous record holder. She still had the final race ahead of her, where she won the gold medal with an even quicker time of 12.06 seconds. However, this wasn't recognized as a new world record.
Having already set the record in the semi-finals and clinching the gold medal, Amusan likely wasn’t too disheartened by the record's rejection. The reason behind it was that the wind reading during her race was too high. With the excessive tailwind, her time couldn’t be fairly compared to other records, and thus it was ruled ineligible.
