That's a tall order

World's Tallest Man Has New Rival
AOL

(April 17) - The official world's tallest man has some stiff competition -- from within his own country.

Bao Xishun of China, who stands at 7 feet, 9 inches tall, is recognized by Guinness World Records as the tallest man on the globe. But doctors in Tianjin, China, said they measured a man named Zhao Liang at 8 feet, 1 inch, BBC News reported.

Bao was first named the world's tallest man in 2006. He was trumped by Leonid Stadnik of Ukraine in 2007, who was measured at 8 feet, 5 inches. But Bao reclaimed the title in 2008 when Stadnik refused to be re-measured under new Guinness guidelines.

Doctors measured new rival Zhao, a former basketball player, at a hospital where he received successful surgery for a foot injury. He would have to be confirmed by Guinness to officially be named world's tallest.

Zhao's stature may be atypical, but his mother's concerns for him aren't.
"I am so worried about his marriage, job and his health that my hair has turned white," his mother, Wang Keyun, told the Xinhua news agency.

I love the abnormal human section of the Guinness Book of World Records. It's one of the few sections that I don't consider completely horseshit.

The world's tallest man section is definitely my favorite. I watched a Discovery Channel special about Stadnik and that guy is massive. His pituitary tumor miraculously stopped growing on its own so he's going to live. But he's so reclusive that I guess Guinness took his title away, which is a travesty in my book.

It does remind me of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiam where Larry and John McEnroe get kicked out of a VIP party at the Staples Center for laughing at a freak book as Heather Mills walked in. Here's a clip from earlier in the episode. Classic TV.