How to be record breaker without much dedication

Got time to kill? Why not attempt to bag a world-beater? There are some weird and wonderful global bests ready to be beaten..

WE CAN’T all have the recordbreaking running speed of Jamaica’s Usain Bolt...

There are also not many of us who will share the same number of birthdays as Frenchwoman Jeanne Louise Calment, who lived to the ripe old age of 122.

And it’s highly unlikely anyone will reach the giddy height of American Robert Wadlow, who at 8ft 11.1in was the tallest person in recorded history.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t all be world record breakers.

The late Roy Castle – host of BBC TV show Record Breakers – famously sang: “If you want to be the best, and you want to beat the rest, dedication’s all you need.”

Now, betting website SlotsWise have come up with a list of world records that can be broken quickly, cheaply and, importantly during this time of coronavirus restrictions, at home.

Become a world record holder by trying to beat one of these:

● The record for eating a 12in pizza using cutlery is 23.6 seconds. Kelvin Medina, from the Philippines, is the existing record holder.

● A bubblegum bubble almost 20 inches in diameter would get you close to Chad Fell’s record.

● Stacking four eggs on top or each other will get a world best.

● American Ross McCurdy holds the record for the most eggs cracked with one hand in a minute. He managed 32.

● The fastest time for eating a slice of toast is 8.47 seconds – held by Anthony Falzon, of Malta.

● Someone in the UK who calls themselves “The Essex Animal” set the fastest time for eating a Big Mac meal – 59.39 seconds.

● Landing eight tea bags into a mug in half a minute would make you a record breaker. New Yorker Ashrita Furman holds the current record of seven.

● Abhinabha Tangerman, from Portugal, holds the record for keeping two balloons in the air using only his head. He kept them up for one minute nine seconds.

● American David Rush holds the world best for blowing a pea – 495 inches.

● The record for the largest number of selfies is not held by a member of the Kardashian family but by Arizona Cardinals American football star Patrick Peterson, who managed 1449.

● The record for the most paper straws in a beard is held by New Zealand’s Anatole Ivanow, who managed 399.

● If you overestimated stationery purchases for working from home, you could try to better Italian Silvio Sabba’s world record of 38 sticky notes stuck to the face in 30 seconds. Personal trainer Silvio also holds the record for building the world’s highest toilet roll tower – stacking up 28. Might be a good challenge for any of the guilty few who stockpiled unnecessarily at the start of lockdown.

● Pulling on just 29 socks on one foot in 30 seconds would earn you a world record. Slovakian Paolo Durdik set the current best total of 28 back in 2017.

● This might be one for the garden but taking 44 wet sponges to the face in half a minute would top American David Rush’s current record set earlier this year.

● Home workouts kept people fit in lockdown but how does completing 69 jumping jacks in half a minute sound? Homeless Londoner Simon Idio set the record last year.

HOST LEGEND The late Roy Castle