Pensioner Cathie Jung has worn tight-fitting corsets for years to become the woman with the world's smallest waist. The super-fit 70-year-old has a tiny waist which measures just 15 inches (38 cm). Jung is an exponent of tightlacing, the practice of altering body shape and posture through wearing tightly-laced corsets.

Record breaker Cathie Jung's official website

Joining Cathie in the record books is contortionist Leslie Tipton. She is listed in the new edition of the Guinness Book of Records for escaping from a suitcase in record time. She managed to wriggle her way out of a small piece of luggage in just 13.31 seconds.

Dedication’s what you need

Another new record breaker is China’s Yu Zhenhuan who is officially recognized as the world’s hairiest man. Yu, who has an average of 41 hairs on every 0.4 inches of his skin, hopes to cash in on his fame by participating in the ceremonial torch relay that precedes the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Italian record breaker Marco Fanti’s interest in architecture led to him building the world’s largest chocolate igloo. The structure, a centrepiece at Perugia’s Eurochocolate fair, stood 1.65 metres high, weighed 3 tonnes and was made from 330 blocks of chocolate.

Perhaps the weirdest world record of all is that held by Turkey’s Ilker Yilmaz who has mastered the art of crying with, not over, spilt milk. Yilmaz is able to squirt milk from a tear duct in his eye. His record distance is 9 feet 2 inches. In 2006, he managed to extinguish five lit candles in just over two minutes with his milk jet. He insists on using semi-skimmed or skimmed milk as the full fat variety clogs the eye ducts.