Nicosia breaks Guinness World Record with Human Chain
Cyprus broke the Guinness World Record with the longest alternating chain of 4,073 people from all over the island clasping wrists on Tuesday night at the GSP stadium.
The event, organised by the Yianis Christodoulou Foundation, concluded with a concert by renowned Greek singer Konstantinos Argyros.
The previous record was held by the city of Kyoto, Japan. The achievement was for the “Largest Alternating Human Chain Holding Wrists” sustained for one minute.
“A quite challenging record…became a reality,” noted a statement by the Yianis Christodoulou Foundation.
John Christodoulou, after thanking the participants, remarked that “today we once again put Cyprus on the international map of achievements.”
Reflecting on the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Christodoulou emphasised the importance of finding strength and unity to achieve a lasting solution. “We must find the strength and unity for a solution if we do not want this situation to continue for another 50 years,” he stressed.
The event was hosted by Andri Karantoni, and the “Official Witness” in accordance with Guinness guidelines was Elly Symons from Australia, who has Cypriot roots.
The successful realisation of the chain was inspected by Guinness representatives who arrived in Cyprus specifically for this purpose, as well as 200 supervisors and volunteers.
According to the announcement, a concert followed for all participants with singer Konstantinos Argyros, who, draped in the flag of Cyprus, sang the Cypriot version of the song “Eleftheros” with thousands of scarves waving in the audience.