China's Bao Xishun remains world's largest man

Guinness World Records has returned the title of the world's tallest man to China's Bao Xishun after Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk refused to be measured under new guidelines.

Bao, who stands at 2.36 metres, held the title for a year before losing it in 2006 to Stadnyk, who is 2.57 metres tall, said Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records.

While Bao has been measured by Guinness, which required him to be measured six times in one day - both standing and lying down - Stadnyk has refused. His title was awarded based on a statement from his doctor.

"We realised there was such interest and excitement in these categories to do with height that it was too important a category for us to leave it to a doctor alone," Glenday said. "So we decided to tighten things up completely to make sure there was no doubt."

Glenday said Guinness had been asking Stadnyk since about 2004 - when the organisation first heard of him - if they could measure him, offering to fly officials to the Ukraine or fly him to Britain.

Running shy of publicity

"He has gone on record saying he doesn't want to be bothered. Basically he doesn't want the fame and publicity that comes with being the world's tallest man," he said. "Whether or not that's the real reason ... I'm not sure, but that's what he's told us."

Stadnyk, who lives with his mother in a tiny village in central Ukraine, said last year he doesn't "need glory".

"I just want a normal life under normal conditions," he said.

Stadnyk said he sees his height more as a burden than a blessing, saying "the world is built for medium-sized people." He and his mother were living off a pension of about $100 (Dh367) a month and whatever else they earn is from growing tomatoes and cucumbers and raising chickens and livestock.

Bao, however, loves the publicity that came with his title and "was a bit gutted" when he found out he had lost it to Stadnyk, Glenday said. The Inner Mongolian livestock herder has not yet learned he is again officially the world's tallest.

"He was a bit of a recluse. He looked after goats. Then the fame that he got from being a Guinness World Record holder meant that he found himself a wife, his life improved," said Glenday, adding that Bao and his 1.68-metre tall wife are expecting a baby later this year.

Bao hires himself out for publicity stunts and his wedding last year was sponsored by at least 15 companies. In December 2006, Bao saved the lives of two dolphins by reaching deep into their stomachs with his 1.06-metre long arm to pull out pieces of plastic, according to Chinese media.

Bao reached his height in a seven-year spurt that began in his teens which doctors have yet to explain, according to Guinness, while Glenday said Stadnyk's growth is said to have been caused by a tumour on his pituitary gland that stimulated over-production of a growth hormone.

The tallest man on record was Robert Wadlow from Alton, Illinois, who measured 2.72 metres and died in 1940, according to Guinness World Records.

Guinness has also crowned a new shortest man under the new rules - He Ping Ping, who stands 74.61 centimetres tall and lives just a few hundred miles from Bao in Inner Mongolia, Glenday said.