Dubai: Autistic genius Johann Mendes broke the Guinness World Record for naming the most capital cities in 60 seconds.
The 18-year-old broke the record after naming 52 capital cities in one minute, beating the previous record-holder, Robert Clarke from the UK, who named 50.
Johann, who is labelled a genius for his amazing memory that has allowed him to memorise the entire calendar from the 20th to the 22nd century, was awarded the Guinness World Record certificate on Thursday at the Dubai Centre for Special Needs.
Johann’s mother, Judy Mendes, said it all started around 10 years ago when Johann, was causing some trouble on the bus.
“The bus driver, Khalid Khan, started asking him about the capital cities of the world to keep him distracted from causing any mischief.”
Judy believes that because of the quizzing, he got hooked on to the atlas and if it wasn’t for the bus driver he might not have got this talent.
Even though Johann does have an amazing memory and can recall the birthdays of most of his classmates, teachers and school staff, he said he was still shocked by the win.
“I didn’t think I would win. I have been practising for months and I never got above 50 capital cities in one minute. So when I was told that I got 52 on the actual thing I was surprised. I said ‘oh my god I broke the record’!” said Johann.
The challenge for Johann was not the capital cities as he had already memorised 180 of them. Instead, it was the short 60 -second time restriction that proved to be difficult when he was being tested by Samer Khallouf, Project Manager, Middle East and North Africa, Guinness World Record.
Khallouf said he succeeded in breaking the record on May 20 after four attempts.
“This record is different because Johann was fighting against time. One second could have made a difference for him. But he kept trying and here he is today.”
Khallouf said Johann was a bit nervous when he first started the attempt and so only got 41 capital cities right but, as he kept going, he eventually succeeded.
“You should consider that part of the time he lost was me asking him the questions. He is really amazing. I didn’t even know most of them,” Khallouf said.
Director of the Dubai Centre for Special Needs’ Dr Mahshid Salehi commended Johann’s achievement at the award ceremony saying he is not only a record-holder but a good student and a source of pride for the centre.
Johann plans on breaking a second record, the most flags named in one minute. He said he has memorised 80 and needs to name more than 77 flags in one minute to succeed.
Although he likes the fame and attention that comes with being a record-holder, Johann, who is in the ninth grade, said his education is the most important thing.
“I still don’t forget about my board exams because they are more important for my life. I was thinking about becoming a flight attendant but now I want to become a pilot or work in traffic control. It all depends on my grades.”
As for the message that he hopes to send out to his community by winning, Johann said: “People should never think that they are not capable of accomplishing their dreams. Every person is capable, all that they have to do is practise.”
