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Summary
Nigerian Ololade Ayelabola, a 5’10 "model, has walked for four days in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest distance walked on a catwalk by a model. The previous winners walked for 2 days in Dublin.
Nigerian model Ololade Ayelabola walked for four days at the University of Lagos’s (UNILAG) sports centre runway on October 6, 2024. The final-year student of the Department of Computer Science at UNILAG is attempting to break the Guinness World Records (GWR) for the longest distance walked on a catwalk by a model.
The Guinness World Records (GWR) is an annual publication available in numerous languages around the world. It features records of remarkable human achievements and the most extreme occurrences in nature.
The record for the longest distance walked on a catwalk by a model was last broken by Roberta Brown and Lorraine McCourt 43 years ago. The duo walked two days and 114.4 km from September 19 to 20, 1983, in Dublin, after which they were announced winners by GWR.
To break the current achievement, Ololade, alongside other models, walked nonstop for four days on the 63.4m runway at the UNILAG sports centre where the show was held. As reported by her team, she walked a total of 130.62km and took 2058 laps around the platform.
A seasoned beauty pageant contestant, Ololade won the “Most Beautiful Campus Queen in Nigeria” pageant in 2021 and was crowned “Miss Amina” and “Face in Akoka” in 2019. Ololade, who first hinted at attempting to break this record on her Instagram page on July 20, aims to showcase the power of inclusivity and diversity on the runway and promote the power of human endurance.
“By using the theme ‘Inclusivity and Diversity’ for my record attempt, I hope to send a powerful message: African runways should embrace diverse body representations because beauty comes in different looks, shapes, and sizes,” she tweeted.
In the just-concluded contest, it was revealed that Ololade was a beauty queen contestant who was rejected in two national fashion shows because her height of 5 ft 10 in was considered “not tall enough.”
“Using the painful setbacks as stepping stones and drawing inspiration from Kafayat ‘Kaffy’ Shafau’s amazing dance record with #GWR, I’m attempting to break a 41-year-old Guinness World Record,” Ololade said.
After completing the laps, Ololade’s team urged Nigerians to be patient for them to upload the evidence of her attempt to break the record for the longest distance walked on a catwalk by a model for review by GWR and the public.
Typically, it takes GWR up to three months to officially announce winners after documentation.
“It can take up to 12 weeks for us to review your documentation and let you know if your record attempt has been accepted as the new record holder or rejected,” a statement on the GWR website reads.
Recently, Nigerian women have been at the forefront of breaking Guinness World Records. With GWR winner Hilda Baci paving the way and shining the spotlight on the Record in Nigeria by winning the longest cooking marathon in June 2023, Helen Williams and Clara Kronnborg also clinched the prestigious award.
