The man who travels across countries to make and break records
Samer Khallouf, a 30-year old Syrian national, has what is undoubtedly one of the most interesting jobs in the world: Guinness World Records adjudicator.
Since joining Guinness World Records in 2013, Khallouf has travelled to 11 countries to judge and verify some of the world’s most interesting record titles. “It’s an interesting job. I was very lucky to be headhunted for this job,” he told
Khaleej Times. “I was interviewed for the position and after very tough rounds of interviews and intense training for three months, I qualified to be an adjudicator.”
Among his favourite records he has adjudicated in the UAE is that of Emil and Liliana Schmid, a Swiss couple who have been on the road since 1984 — the world’s longest journey driven.
“They started 30 years ago, in a car, and they’re still visiting every country in the world,” he recalled. “They had a stop here in Dubai where they wanted us to review their evidence. They’re still on the move. It’s interesting to see two people living in the same car — they left everything behind and they’re just living and traveling the world.”
Another favourite of Khallouf’s was Frenchman Alain Robert, more popularly known as “Spiderman”. holding the record for most buildings climbed externally by a person. He has climbed 121 buildings, including some of Dubai’s most notable skyscrapers. “Robert suffers from vertigo but climbs unassisted,” Khallouf said. “He climbed the (828 metre) Burj Khalifa and the (306 metre) Cayan Tower.”
“Robert shook hands with me and he just took off,” Khallouf recalled. “He was wearing nothing but his pants, shoes and a t-shirt, and he just started climbing.”
Khallouf added that the Guinness World Records receives 50,000 record proposals a year from around the globe. “Not many become record holders, only about five per cent,” he noted. “We are very open to considering proposals for new record ideas, as long as it is measurable and breakable. We open new record categories every day, and after that we create record guidelines. We do our research.”
bernd@khaleejtimes.com