All over the world, millions of people try to make their claim to fame through world records. While the major institution of record keeping, The Guinness Book, recognizes some strange records, there are more that even they haven’t seen yet. This is because every day, new records are being attained, broken and in many cases, made up on the spot! It’s simply impossible for any institution to keep track of all of the wild records being made all the time, but what follows are ten of the strangest world records in existence!
10. Limbo
Limbo, despite being that one game everyone knows how to do, yet only seems to exist on cruise ships, has their own world records. While this isn’t too hard to imagine, the world limbo records are fiercely competitive. Well, fiercely competitive would be rather relative considering one of the world record holders (of a limbo just over 5 inches high!) is 50 years old, and not likely to brawl over a dispute.
9. Stacking Cups
Wayne Godinet introduced the first formations and dubbed the sport “Karango Cup Stack”, which eventually developed into World Sport Stacking Association. The idea is to stack cups in a pre-determined formation, competing against another player or against the clock, attempting to have the best time with perfect formation. The sport has world record holders that are as old as their 30s and as young as under 10!
8. Highest Freefall
On October 14, 2012, Felix Baumgartner did something so certifiably crazy it assured him a spot on this list. Felix, in a mission sponsored by the energy drink Red Bull, rode a rocket straight up to the edge of space and jumped out. While he deployed his parachute just 4 seconds before longest freefall record holder Joseph Kittinger did, he surpassed Kittinger’s distance and speed. Interestingly Kittinger was on the team that helped design the capsule and suit that Baumgartner wore on his gigantic dive. As the world watched via the internet, Felix Baumgartner showed the world what breaking a world record looks like live.
7. Longest Time Spent Buried Alive
There are jokes to be made about how parts of Eastern Europe are a little behind on the rest of the Western World’s culture, and therefore have a penchant to get bored easily. This record, set by Zdenek Zahradka of the Czech Republic is just a little further from a joke and into the downright crazy. Zahradka survived 10 days buried underground inside a coffin, with no food or water and only a breathing pipe. His only connection to the outside world was a small tube to breathe through, and yet he beat the previous record by a whopping 6 days.
6. Fastest Hundred Meters Run On All Fours
Japan’s Kenichi Ito is the fastest man alive… on all fours. In November of 2012, Ito broke his own record (set in 2008) for the fastest hundred meter dash on all fours according to Guinness. Modeling his running style after the Afriacan Patas Monkey, Ito has a total of six running styles for his four legged races. What may be more indicative of his mental state than the fact that he set the record is that he has been quoted as saying that he is certain one day “that all sprinters will be running on all fours”.
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