Lists of Records that are never accepted by Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records (GWR) accepts records and will accept your bid after a thorough process of validation. However, there are lists of records that are never accepted by Guinness World Records.

Guinness World Records have limits or boundaries that must be respected even though it is a record-setting and breaking “event”. There are specific types of records that are never accepted by GWR.

Before you embark on any record-breaking or setting expedition, kindly dedicate your time to knowing the types of records that attract a nod for application and vice versa.

GWR has listed the following dubbed “Specific types of records that are never accepted”

1. Alcohol consumption

Guinness World Records no longer considers applications for records involving the rapid consumption of alcohol.

2. Animal breeds

Guinness World Records does not monitor separate categories for different breeds, only absolute records such as ‘longest dog ever’ and ‘oldest cat living’.

3. Animal eating and
releases

Guinness World Records does not monitor any record involving animals eating or being released.
Animal records: Guinness World Records does not monitor any record that can be harmful to animals.

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4. Artwork

Due to the very subjective nature of this and the difficulty of even quantifying “art”, Guinness World Records does not consider any claims for drawing/painting.

5. Blinking- never / most in 1 minute

We are unable to monitor this as a Guinness World Records title.

6. Costumed records

With regards to mass participation costume records, Guinness World Records must limit the amount of categories to those which have a very specific, standard, iconic, internationally recognizable dress.

7. Distance running records (in costume, pushing a pram, etc.)

Guinness World Records only accepts records for full and half marathon distances.

8. Environmentally impactful records

Environmentally impactful records such as largest release of party balloons, sky lanterns, etc. are no longer monitored.

9. Fast learning

It is not possible to measure fairly how fast a subject is learnt therefore Guinness World Records does not monitor records based on the time it takes to learn a subject.

10. Fastest musician (Fastest violin player, piano player, etc.)

After conducting a full and thorough review Guinness World Records has concluded that we are unfortunately unable to continue monitoring these categories. It has become impossible to judge the quality of the renditions, even when slowed down.

11. Fasting/hunger strike

This is such a sensitive and difficult area to monitor, we do not accept public applications for this category.

12. Firsts

Firsts are not generally accepted, with the exception of game-changing milestones that have opened up new possibilities and marked the beginning of new eras, fashions, and standards.

13. Freckles

Moles, birthmarks, and freckles all vary in size and depth, so counting them individually or assessing their size is not accurate enough for a Guinness World Records title.

14. Heaviest pets

Guinness World Records has discontinued accepting claims for heaviest or lightest pets. We still measure height, length and age for most animals and pets.

15. High score-gamers

High-score records for video games are not actively monitored by Guinness World Records.

16. Highest altitude activity on-board an aircraft

Guinness World Records does not monitor highest altitude events (e.g. social events or sports games) aboard aircrafts. We advise applicants to attempt a ‘Highest altitude’ record title on land as an alternative.

17. Improvisation/jamming

Guinness World Records is unable to consider applications relating to jam sessions or improvisation as it is impossible to ensure the musical proficiency and quality of such performances.

18. Listening to music

Guinness World Records requires every record to be accurately and objectively quantifiable, but with records involving listening to music or the radio there is no way of proving that the participants are actually listening to the music and indeed concentrating on this.

19. Most people eating/drinking

Guinness World Records does not monitor records for the most people eating any given food stuff. Instead, we monitor a select number of iconic meal records, such as ‘Largest silver service dinner’ that have set conventions that distinguish them and provide an additional element of challenge.

20. Most records broken in a set time

Guinness World Records does not monitor a record for the number of records broken in a set time period.

21. Most XXX eaten in a minute/Fastest time to eat XXX:

Guinness World Records already monitors a limited number of iconic eating records, and there are no plans to accept further titles in this area at the moment. If you are interested in an eating record, please make an application and search for eat to view the whole list of possibilities.

22. Oldest person with a disease/syndrome/disability

Guinness World Records is no longer able to monitor records based on ‘oldest person with a disease, syndrome or disability’.

23. Photography – group photos

Due to photographs taken of large crowds at sports events, rallies and similar, Guinness World Records cannot accept records for largest group photos.

24. Poetry

Due to the very subjective nature of poetry, Guinness World Records only monitors broader publishing records for poetry.

25. Qualifications

Guinness World Records does not accept records regarding qualifications, primarily because it is difficult to quantify to a level that will enable adjudication of the record internationally. Each country and each academic institution has its own methods for awarding course credits, degrees, or qualifications, and therefore no international standard can be drawn on which to base a record.

26. Qualified by age

Guinness World Records tries to include as wide a variety of activities as possible to appeal to different age groups, and concentrate on absolute records, rather than those that are qualified in some way.

27. Records based on originality/uniqueness

‘Originality/uniqueness’ are not objectively quantifiable and cannot therefore form the basis of a world record.

28. Small fruit/veg/plants:

We do not monitor small plant/fruit/vegetable records.

29. Speeding on public roads

Guinness World Records does not accept time-limited attempts in a motorized vehicle on a public highway, because such attempts would require the challenger to, in effect, undertake a race or time-trial on public roads. The only exception to this rule is if the highways used are closed off specifically for the purpose of the record attempt. We monitor a wide range of ‘Lowest fuel consumption in a journey from A to B’ records, and we encourage applicants to consider these as an alternative.

30. Sports achievements

For records directly involving performance in sports, we must only accept those which occur at a top-level professional, international, or pre-eminent amateur (i.e. Olympics).

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31. Surgeries/invasive medical tests

Guinness World Records does not monitor most operations/invasive tests in a short time span.

32. Weightlifting machines

Due to the differences in configurations of machine weights these records are not monitored.

33. Young achievers

Guinness World Records does not generally recognize endurance records for those aged 16 or under.