No, thats what I'm saying. World records are like saying this guy could probably eat the most hotdogs in the world, so what he eats is the world record, or that guy can really smoke cigarettes so how many he smokes in an hour would be the world record.
All I'm purposing is that maybe like once every couple of years, or every year even, then get together the most likely candidates to set these records and make them compete to get them instead of just handing them out to the guy or girl who appears to be the most capable. Like if some one wanted the world record for acting, they could get together all the world's best actors and they could literally act it down to the last person, man that'd be cool.
That's a large part of what happens. World records aren't handed to the most "capable." They're not based on promise. Someone makes an accomplishment, then that is recorded and becomes the record. Then another person challenges the accomplishment, people come out to record it, if he beats the old record, he sets the new record. Sometimes this is done by contest like you describe, as well.
In other words, world records are nothing like "saying this guy could probably eat the most hotdogs in the world." They're like saying this guy has eaten the most hotdogs ever recorded in the world. They don't pick record holders off promise, they pick them because of the achievement that itself sets the record.