World's tallest man feared he would trample on shortest during historic meeting

23 January 2023 , 11:02

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The world's tallest man Sultan Kosen once feared he would trample on the world's shortest (Image: Getty Images)

The world's tallest man once asked officials to keep him away from the world's shortest because he feared he would trample on him.

Guinness world record holder Sultan Kosen, 40, from Turkey, towers over pretty much everyone at his more-than-impressive height of 8ft 3in.

He has travelled around the globe thanks to the attention brought by his incredible stature - but one meeting with a new acquaintance left him worried he would accidentally cause them a terrifying injury.

Mr Kosen met world's shortest man Chandra Bahadur Dangi in London back in 2014, who at 1ft 9½in is thought to have been the shortest human being who ever lived.

The Nepalese man sadly died just one year later, but their introduction was one that stuck with Sultan for years afterwards.

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He would later recall his nerves ahead of both their historic meeting and a later encounter with 2ft ¾in Indian actress Jyoti Kishanji Amge, the world's shortest woman, in Egypt in 2018.

Mr Kosen met Chandra Bahadur Dangi in London back in 2014 (Getty Images)

The world's shortest man sadly died the following year - but the meeting left a lasting impression (Getty Images)

Speaking to Turkish YouTuber Ruhi Cenet, he said: "I kept asking officials to keep them away from me,"

"I was very afraid to accidentally step on them and break their bodies."

Sultan revealed that the distance between them actually prevented him from communicating with the two record-holders, adding: “I never heard what they said, they talked, but I didn't hear their voices."

He also revealed that his remarkable height comes from an issue with his pituitary gland, and he was unable to attend a school when young because he was too tall for the chairs and desks.

While he has held several jobs throughout his life, he has never managed to hold one down in the long term as his height kept causing problems - but says "as a record-holder" his income now comes from "travelling all over the world".

He also met 2ft ¾in Indian actress Jyoti Kishanji, the world's shortest woman, in 2015 (Getty Images)

Sultan married a 5ft 9in Syrian woman named Merve Dibo ten years his junior back in 2013.

But the couple suffered from difficulties in communication, as he speaks Turkish while his wife only speaks Arabic.

They divorced in 2021, citing the language barrier.

He also looked in danger of losing his crown last year when 29-year-old Sulemana Abdul Samed, from northern Ghana, was measured at a gigantic 9 ft 6in.

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But this eventually turned out to be a mistake with the measuring equipment, meaning he retained the title of world's tallest man he has held since 2009.

Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas