Height of achievement: World’s tallest man meets world’s smallest
The world’s tallest man and his counterpart, the world’s smallest, have been photographed alongside one another at a special event to commemorate Guinness World Record (GWR) Day.
The two men, who have a 7ft height difference, were reported to have struck up a firm friendship during the shoot, and plan to see each other again.
The gentle giant Sultan Kösen, 31, measures a staggering 8ft 3in (2.5m) tall and has been classified as the world’s tallest man since 2009.
His new friend Chandra Dangi, 75, on the other hand, measures the height of six stacked cans of beans, at a tiny 1ft 7in (0.4m).
On Thursday, the two met for the first time at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London for an iconic photo-shoot to mark the 60th anniversary of Guinness Book of World Records.
#GuinnessWorldRecords world's shortest man Chandra Bahadur Dangi poses with the tallest living man Sultan Kosen pic.twitter.com/0YQBVMhtNX
— Reuters Pictures (@reuterspictures) November 13, 2014
Kösen said he and Dangi had enjoyed meeting one another and hoped that “from now on we become really good friends and do more things together.”
“I'm inviting Chandra to Turkey – hopefully he will come,” he added.
He said he loved London and that it was “amazing” to meet Chandra after their years of mutual stardom.
Sultan and Chandra, world's tallest and shortest men, meet for the first time #GWRdayhttps://t.co/QdIlDf5K0n
— GuinnessWorldRecords (@GWR) November 13, 2014
“Even though he is short and I am tall, we have had similar struggles throughout our lives and when I look into Chandra’s eyes, I can see he’s a good man,” he said.
Kösen is also the record holder for the largest hands of any living person, with each of his enormous appendages measuring 11.22in (28.5cm) from the tip of the finger to the wrist. He further boasts size 25 shoes.
Chandra, on the other (much smaller) hand, wears size 2 shoes.
He said he was “very happy” to have gained such worldwide fame from his diminutive stature.
Epic proportions as the world's shortest and tallest men shook hands for first time http://t.co/c4h9CAcvRr@GWRpic.twitter.com/fQHtcVpcmA
— UGO Uganda (@UgoUganda) November 13, 2014
Chandra lives in Reemkholi, a tiny village in Nepal, 450km away from its capital Kathmandu, but expressed his pleasure at being so well known.
“I was confined to a small part of Nepal, now I am known to the world and everyone knows about me being the smallest man,” he said, adding that he was proud to represent Nepal on an international level.
“It makes me extremely proud to represent Nepal all around the world, I’m extremely humbled by the support I receive,” he added.
Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief, Craig Glenday, said that GWR Day “brings together like minded people.”
“Whether they’re penguins, arrow catchers, basketball players, tall or short, we celebrate the uniqueness of individuals around the globe and invite anyone to participate in the international day of record breaking,” he said.
A whopping 600,000 other Guinness World Records title hopefuls from across the world took part in GWR Day 2014.
