There are numerous inventive world record holders in the Guinness World Records library. But one man's achievements are beyond all the record holders of the world. No other achievements equal the records of Ashrita Furman also known as Mr. Versatility, who is famous as the man with the most Guinness World Records holdings. Ashrita has outlined more than 700 records and presently holds over 200.
Ashrita's original name is Keith Furman, and he was born on September 16, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York. Even after being an unathletic kid, he was greatly intrigued by the Guinness Book of World Records. Later in life, he walked in spirituality, and his spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy motivated him to take part in a 24-hour bicycle race in New York City's Central Park in 1978. With hardly two week's workout, he wrapped for third place, cycling 405 miles. After that, this strong believer of spirituality switched his first name to Ashrita, which means ‘protected by God’ in Sanskrit.
Guinness record for the fastest mile on a kangaroo ball: Great Wall of China in Jan-2005.
Over the past few decades, he is perceiving his life's purpose to crack numerous records. The first-ever world record of Ashrita was in 1979, and he did 27,000 jumping jacks for it. In 1986, he invented and set the world record for underwater pogo stick jumping. Some of the record-breaking stunts of Ashrita include dragging a car for 17 miles in 24 hours, walking 80.95 miles with a milk bottle on his head, translating and narrating a poem to 111 languages in 24 hours. Some remarkable balancing records of Ashrita are the longest duration on a swiss ball, fastest mile while balancing a pool cue. Besides, he balanced the world's longest pole in Turkey too.
Record for balancing on a Swiss ball (2 hours 16 mins 2 seconds): Stonehenge, July 22, 2003.
Ashrita Furman was first recognised by Guinness World Records for the most records in 1987. Moreover, he carries several weird and unique records. For instance, chopping 27 apples with a samurai sword within just sixty seconds, racing against a yak in a sack, the fastest mile on a space hopper, he also broke the Guinness World record for the fastest mile on a kangaroo ball. His recent world record is 31 watermelons chopped on his stomach in a minute. After all these records, he also holds the Guinness world record for the most Guinness world records. And for a very long time now, Ashrita has held more Guinness World records than any other person on earth.
Underwater Cycling Record for longest distance (1.8 mi.): Coimbra, Portugal, September 2011.
Ashrita Furman believes that anyone with great ambition and a committed attitude can be applauded by the entire world. Over the past few years, he has been greatly comprised in achieving unique records and taking back all the titles that other people have snatched from him. Today, Ashrita Furman is inseparable from the concept of world records, and he conveys a stunning example of tremendous human growth from the tiny plants of endeavour.
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Reference:
(ashrita.com/ guinnessworldrecords.com/ Wikipedia)
Image Source: wikipedia.org and guinnessworldrecords.com