Failed GWR attempts: 'They are winners,' says longest science record debutante

Rose who is hoping to become a record holder with the Guinness World Record said this following the unsuccessful attempts by her Ghanaian colleagues in their quest to earn titles.

More West Africans are increasingly expressing interest in setting new Guinness World Records (GWR) in recent times.

The Guinness World Record has revealed that since July 2023, there have been a total of 355 applications from individuals in Ghana alone for records in cooking, singing, and speech among others.

Nigerians also have been in the books with Hilda Baci earning a slot as a record holder after her cook-a-thon in May 2023 with over 100 hours of cooking.

But in recent times, some record attempts from West African nation Ghana have not been successful with GWR citing the breaking of some rules as reason for their disqualifications.

First was Ghana’s Afua Asantewaa who held a sing-a-thon for four days, hitting 126 hours and 52 minutes in total in December 2023.

Chef Faila Abdul-Razak followed with her cook-a-thon attempt in January, cooking for 227 hours in an attempt to beat the record of Irish chef Alan Fisher who has a record of 199 hours and 57 minutes.

Both candidates however failed to earn the record as Guinness World Record indicated they fell short of abiding by strict rest break rules and guidelines set by them.

The way forward?

Speaking to GSW in an interview, she told Wonder Hagan that the failures of these women to achieve the records do not make them losers.

According to her, the efforts and hard work they put into the attempts were remarkable and even more admirable as women.

“I want to tell them not to stop, it does not end when you fail and when you enter into something, expect two results, expect to pass or to fail and I feel like for that lady who cooked for many hours and another one who sang for four days, I commend them, I congratulate them. How many people have attempted that honestly? And they are even women. I want to tell them that they are already winners,” she said.

Tata further urged that like her who is ready to go beyond regardless of the outcome of her attempt, individuals like Chef Faila and Afua Asantewaa ought to dwell on the exposure given to them by their attempts to be more impactful in their respective countries.

“Guinness World Record is just one organization so if that organization has not awarded you the title, you move forward, you continue making the impact that you had desired to make. It does not end there and I want to talk to those women personally, I have not received my results yet. I do not know which results I am going to receive, but for me, I don’t think it will allow it to put me down even if it comes out negative. So let them just continue doing what they are doing and I like what they are doing, it’s amazing. Putting up such an event and subjecting your body to such levels of endurance is already a win so I just want to tell them that they are winners, they are not losers,” she further noted.