11 October marks the International Day of the Girl Child, an opportunity to focus on girls’ rights and opportunities. It’s also known as International Day of the Girl or, simply, Day of Girls.
This movement aims to raise the voices of young women, supporting brilliant and inspirational girls who can help make the world a better place.
Here at Guinness World Records, we thought we’d celebrate this day by sharing some of our amazing girl record breakers’ stories, hoping to inspire girls and women everywhere.
Starting with…
Greta Thunberg
You might recognize this Swedish climate-change activist, who is living proof that age is no barrier when it comes to making an impact.
Know a kid who'd love this story? We've got a special version of it just for them on our kids' website!
Greta started speaking up about climate change at the age of 15 and, since then, lots more people – especially young people – began to read and get informed on climate change, support and even organize protests.
Today, thanks to “the Greta Effect”, more people than ever before are involved in climate action.
In 2019, when she was 16 years old, she set a record for the youngest “Time Person of the Year”.
Greta’s advice to young people who are looking to encourage greener practices in their own homes and communities, is: “One thing you can do at home is to make a list of things your family can do to reduce your ecological footprint.
Just keep bugging your parents or the adults around you. Be the person who dares to be uncomfortable and lead by example.
Read Greta’s full story and interview here.
Sofia Tepla
Ukrainian contortionist Sofia Tepla set her first world record when she was 11 years old, achieving the fastest time to travel 20 m in a contortion roll on the Italian TV show Lo Show dei Record.
But just when she was ready to take on the world, things took a dark turn and, as soon as she went back to her small Ukrainian town, the war started.
“On my first day back, a rocket flew into our town,” she told us.
And yet despite all the difficulties, one year later Sofia successfully set a second record.
I told myself that it is necessary to continue, and to prove to the whole world, that Ukraine is full of talented and purposeful children.
Training under the circumstances wasn’t easy, but she pushed through and, finally, she achieved her second record title of the most contortion roll push-ups in 30 seconds.
She hopes that by her example, she will inspire other athletes in her country not to lose motivation: “I wish them to boldly pursue their dream.”
Sofia is one of Guinness World Records' Young Achievers and is featured in our 2024 book – out now!
Gitanjali Rao
Gitanjali is a teenager from Denver, Colorado, USA.
She is also a brilliant scientist who is trying to make the world a better place, one invention at a time.
When she was only 10 years old, Gitanjali started developing a small device, named Tethys, that can detect if there is lead in water, a chemical that is unsafe for humans to drink or eat.
One of her more recent inventions, named Kindly, is a computer technology that helps stop cyberbullying.
Her message to other young girls out there is: “If I can do it, you can do it, and anyone can do it.
Take risks, find your own talent and use it. There’s no limit to the amount of times we can fail, and we still have time to succeed in our endeavours.
After achieving so much at such a young age, Gitanjali set the record for becoming the first TIME Magazine Kid of the Year.Want more? Follow us on Google News and across our social media channels to stay up-to-date with all things Guinness World Records! You can find us on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Snapchat Discover.
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Still not had enough? Click here to buy our latest book, filled to the brim with stories about our amazing record breakers.
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