Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Tallest man in the world


The 2010 edition of Guinness Book of World Records lists Sultan Kosen (born 10 December 1982) as the tallest living man as well as having the largest hands (11.22 inches) (28.5 centimeters) and largest feet (14.4 inches) (36.5 centimeters) when last measured on 8 February 2011.

According to Guinness, Sultan Kosen is the tallest living human reaching an average height of 8'1" (2,46.5 m) when measured by GWR in Ankara, Turkey, in February 2009. He takes over the title from China's Bao Xishun, who stands 'just' 2.36 metres (seven feet 8.95 inches). However, Sultan Kosen was still growing and at a more recent meeting with then tallest man of the U.S. George Bell, Sultan Kosen was measured at 8'2" tall.

On 8 February 2011 Sultan Kosen was measured in Ankara, Turkey at 8 feet 3 inches (251.4 cm). SourceGuinness World Records.

Sultan Kosen was unable to complete his schooling because of his extreme height, but works occasionally as a farmer to support his family. Sultan Kosen has three brothers and a sister, who are all normal-sized, but his rate of growth surged from the age of 10 because of a tumour which caused too much growth hormone to be released from his pituitary gland. The tumour was successfully removed in surgery and he was thought to have stopped growing last year (2008). He uses walking sticks and tires quickly if he is standing. Another pretender to the tallest title, Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk, who claims to be 10.5 centimetres taller than Sultan Kosen, fails to qualify for the record because he refused to be measured by Guinness World Records officials. Guinness editor-in-chief Craig Glenday travelled to Turkey to personally validate Sultan Kosen's height under strict guidelines, measuring him three times in one day because bodies expand and shrink throughout the day. 

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