14 DAY TRIAL // Being tall may have its advantages, but, for Sultan Kosen from Turkey, the latest holder of the world Guinness record for the tallest man in the world, it also means he can’t get a date. Measuring 8ft 1in (2.5m), the gentle giant is now in London to promote the Guinness Book of Records, for some sightseeing and to tower over people in the hope that fame will help him find his true love, as Times Online puts is.
To say that Kosen is incredibly tall is somewhat of an understatement, since he is the official holder of the title of the world’s tallest man – so it’s understandable that girls might be scared of him at first, as he says so himself. However, what with the Guinness title and an offer to be signed to Ugly, a modeling agency, he stands to make anything from £1,000 to £10,000 for a single commercial appearance, and he hopes the exposure and money will also help him meet more girls – and buy a car that he would fit in.
“The first thing I want is a car I can fit into. More than that, I want to get married. It’s really difficult to find a girlfriend. They are usually scared of me.” the 27-year-old Turk says. In all fairness, people’s first reaction when seeing the “tower on legs” is to be afraid, something Sultan has come to be accustomed to, even if it wasn’t always like that.
Kosen recalls being ten years old when his parents first noticed he was growing faster than his school friends and took him to a doctor. It turned out that he had a tumor on the pituitary gland that was making it so that the gland produced too much of the growth hormone. Kosen had the tumor surgically removed last year, which is when he also stopped growing.
However, if in recent years his family found his height very practical in terms of getting him to help hanging curtains and changing light bulbs, life was not always this easy for the giant. “The kids used to tease me and it was very difficult. But now I am really proud of being tall. When they told me I could be the tallest I was very nervous. Since then I’ve been waiting for this moment.” Kosen says of growing up and then learning he might get the title of world’s tallest man in the Guinness Book of Records.
Love is not that distant a possibility for Kosen, though. Bao Xishun, a previous holder of the same record, measuring 7ft 9in, married Xia Shujuan, who was a mere 5ft 5in. After his visit to the UK, Sultan Kosen plans to travel to the US and Germany – somewhere along the way, he will probably find a bride too.