On November 10, four very special people broke epic records right in the heart of London.
With the favour of the weather and the stunning background of the Houses of Parliament, four British record holders tested their super skills in honour of Guinness World Records (GWR) Day.
But what is a super skill?
A super skill is something special everybody can find and nurture – because, as long as they put their heart, mind and effort into it, we believe that everybody can break a record.
“That’s the challenge, there’s no guarantee you’ll break a record, there are so many variables,” said Craig Glenday, Editor-in-Chief of Guinness World Records.
“GWR Day is a recognition and a celebration. It’s not easy – very few people have records, and it’s a very small number of the population. But that’s what today is about: it might be challenging, it might be difficult, but have a go at it anyway.”
“It doesn’t have to be extreme. It’s about testing your limits. It’s about testing your skills.” - Craig Glenday
So, without further ado, let’s meet the four record holders that, today, have gathered to break records and give London a demonstration of their amazing super skills.
George Scholey
At Guinness World Records we love rotating puzzles: be it collecting them or proving their dexterity puzzling, plenty of record holders have shared their love for Rubik’s cubes.
George Scholey is the reigning UK speedcubing champion and a special record holder.
Originally from Northampton, this year George proved his unique ability with a Rubik’s cube and multi-tasking skills by speedcubing and skateboarding… at the same time.
These two passions allowed him to break the unlikely record for most rotating puzzle cubes solved on a skateboard, achieving a total of 500 solves while skateboarding around.
He also attempted and smashed the record for most rotating puzzles cubes solved in 24 hours, from 8am of the 9 November to 8am on GWR Day.
As confirmed this morning, he achieved an incredible solves of 6931 in 24 hours.
That means, roughly one Rubik's cube solved every 12 seconds.
However, instead of resting, right after the attempt George jumped on a cab and joined the celebrations for GWR Day with three fellow record holders.
After being handed his certificate, George was up for some more cubing and demonstrated his skills for the cameras.
“The hardest part of the record was hitting the 12 hours mark,” he commented about the attempt.
"Everybody was celebrating and I was like, 'I still have 12 hours to go'."
Discover more about George's epic 24-hour attempt and read all about the challenges and technical difficulties he and his team overcame to conquer the record.
Liberty Barros
At only 14 years old, this young youtuber and athlete strikingly embodies the personification of “super skills”.
The contestant at Spain’s Got Talent, named ‘the most flexible girl in the world’ by press and fans alike, tried to break her second record by attempting the fastest 20m backbend knee lock walk.
Although she stumbled on the first attempt, Liberty got up straight after and went for it.
She broke the record with a time of 22.53 seconds, proudly showcasing her brand-new certificate to the cameras on GWR Day.
Born and raised in Peterborough, UK, Liberty has already demonstrated incredible athletic skills by conquering the record for the most chest to floor backbends in 30 seconds.
On that occasion, under the proud eyes of her parents and an awed crowd in her hometown gym, Liberty achieved a stunning number of 11 backbends.
Liberty is self-taught and enjoys creating her own routines.
She trains for four to five hours a day and, despite her innate flexibility, she works hard every day to improve her natural talent.
“A super skill is something you have to work hard towardss.” - Liberty Barros
Ben Nuttall
"I've been working on my skills for 6 years, this is my bread and butter," Ben said after smashing yet another record.
"So yes, I like to think that the record I've just finished was a super skill."
And it's safe to say that 22-year-old athlete from Birmingham certainly proved time and again that he has talent in spades.
Ben already has plenty of record titles under his belt, as well as a flourishing career as a freestyler and performer, but he didn’t miss the occasion to test his skills one more time: achieving 53 crossovers, Ben broke the record for most football crossovers in one minute.
Surpassing the previous result by 8, he broke the record previously set by Bangladesh’s very own freestyler Ashraful Islam.
In October 2020, Ashraful achieved a total of 46 crossovers.
@guinnessworldrecords Record-breakers @bnfreestyle & @Liberty Barros ♬ BEAST MODE - Tim Maxx
This new success adds yet another title to Ben’s existing achievements:
- Most football (soccer) knee catches in 30 seconds, with a total of 31 knee catches
- Most football touches in one minute whilst wearing 5 kg ankle weights, achieving 217 touches
- Most consecutive rugby ball touches with the feet, with 187 touches
Ben started playing football in the streets of his hometown, Birmingham, and developed a passion for defying the laws of gravity simply with a ball after discovering a video of Andrew Henderson - freestyle football champion and fellow record holder.
"It's been super exciting to break a record on GWR Day," he said. "It's not my first record but the feeling never goes away."
"I was feeling a bit tired and made sure I was warming up properly, but I've been smashing the record during my practice and training." - Ben Nuttall
Amazí
Amazí, stage name of Mariam Olayiwola, wowed us again.
“Loud, colourful and energetic,” is how Amazí describes herself – and that is certainly true.
To celebrate Guinness World Records Day, Amazí decided to test her super skills and attempt the record for most hula hoops spun simultaneously whilst on stilts.
She smashed the challenge and achieved the astounding number of 25 hoops.
"I really wanted this record because I just learned stilts!" - Amazí
Amazí already broke the record for longest duration spinning 30 hoops simultaneously two times: first in 2020 and then in 2021, achieving a time of 2 min 9.33 seconds.
She is also part of the Marawa's Majorettes, a record-winning troupe founded by multiple record holder, Arab's Got Talent finalist and Guinness World Records 2022 Hall of Fame inductee Marawa Ibrahim (Australia).
Formerly a scientist, the record holder re-evaluated her life after being struck by a car and breaking her leg.
“In the beginning I was a bit nervous about the wind, but the record itself went really, really well,” she said.
Of course, though, her art doesn’t come without sacrifices.
Other than continuous training, the most challenging part of being a performer according to her is “doing it all by yourself”.
“You have to turn up, motivate yourself and give the most energy every time you perform,” she says.
Take a tour around the world with all the records achieved globally for Guinness World Records Day.
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