Sultan Kosen world's tallest man Leonid Stadnyk refused confirm height
A Turk was dominant man officially crowned the world's largest Thursday after his rival Ukrainian won the race by refusing to be measured.
Guinness World Records said that 8 feet 1 inch (2.47 meter) Sultan Kosen, the city of Mardin in eastern Turkey, is now officially the tallest man walking the planet. Although the previous record holder, Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk, who have measured 8 feet 5.5 inches (2.57 meters), Guinness said he was stripped of his title when he refused to let anyone confirm height.
Stadnyk, 39, told The Associated Press he refused to be measured independently, because he was tired of being in the public eye.
"If this title has given me more health or a few more years, I would have taken, but the opposite happened, I just lost my nerve," he said.
"If I must choose between prosperity and peace, I choose peace."
Kosen, 27, told reporters in London that he was looking forward to parlaying his new status as a chance to love.
"So far, it is very difficult to find a girlfriend," Kosen said through an interpreter. "I've never had one, they were generally afraid of me. ... Hopefully now that I 'm famous, I'll be able to meet many girls. I got married.
Kosen is one of only 10 confirmed or reliably reported cases where humans have increased after the eight-foot (2.44 meter) mark, according to Guinness.
The record-keeping group said he had lived in his outsized stature as tumor-related damage to his pituitary gland triggered the overproduction of growth hormones. The condition, known as pituitary gigantism, "also explains Kosen huge hands and feet, which measures 10.8 inches (27.5 centimeters) and 14.4 inches (36.5 centimeters), respectively.
The tumor was removed last year, so Kosen should not grow more.
The part-time farmer, who uses crutches to stand, said there were drawbacks to being so great.
"I can not fit in a normal car," he said. "I can not go shopping like normal people, I do have things specially made and sometimes they are not always fashionable. The other thing is that the ceilings are low and I have to bend through the doors. "
But further noted certain advantages, including the ability to see people coming from afar.
"The other thing is that they use at home from my waist to change light bulbs and hanging curtains, things like that."
Kosen Travel in the UK - its first outside of Turkey - was organized by Guinness to publicize the release of his 2010 book Guinness World Records, the directory of this year's strange and wonderful records.
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Associated Press Maria Danilova in Kiev, Ukraine contributed to this report.
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On the Net:
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/
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