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 record-breaking attempt, which was an initiative of the Yianis Christodoulou Foundation, took place at Nicosia’s GSP Stadium.
“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 emphasized 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.
Thousands of people – including young children, adults, and participants from a special school – came together to break the record set in Kyoto, Japan in 2016 when 4,052 clasped their wrists.
Joining the chain were Yianis Christodoulou Foundation founder John Christodoulou, Greek folk-pop singer Konstantinos Argyros, and other celebrities.
The event was held under the auspices of the Education Minister and 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.
