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World tallest and shortest men meet on Records Day

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The world's tallest and shortest men came face to shin on Thursday to

celebrate the 10th annual Guinness World Records Day, as people across

the globe set several bonkers new benchmarks.

Turkey's Sultan Kosen, who stands 2.51 metres (eight feet, nine

inches) tall, met with Chandra Bahadur Dangi from Nepal, who measures

just 55 centimetres (21 and a half inches).

Kosen, a 31-year-old farmer, stooped down to shake the world's biggest

hands — 28.5 centimetres (11.22 inches) — with 74-year-old Dangi

opposite the Houses of Parliament in London.

"I was very interested how tall he was going to be, about how far up

my legs he would go, and of course once I saw him I realised how tiny

he was," Kosen told AFP.

He said meeting Chandra was "amazing", although he admitted bending

the long, long way down for photographs was difficult.

"I do have problems with my knees so if I stand too long I do get

tired," he said.

Kosen added: "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 is a good man."

Meanwhile Dangi, a primordial dwarf who makes placemats, is the

shortest adult ever certified by Guinness World Records.

"I was very pleased to see the tallest man in the world, I was curious

to meet my extreme opposite," he told AFP.

– Records smashed at Moulin Rouge –

Around the world, participants were having a go at setting all sorts

of weird and wacky new world records.

NBC weatherman Al Roker was attempting the longest uninterrupted live

weather report, with only a five-minute break per hour permitted. He

was still going strong more than 14 hours in.

At the Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris, dancers set a new benchmark for

the "most simultaneous demi-grand rond de jambe cancan kicks by a

single chorus line in 30 seconds" with a total of 29.

Frenchman Nicolas Pihiliangegedara also secured the record for most

spinning splits in 30 seconds with 36, while Greece's Adonis

Kosmadakis got his leg behind his head 30 times in 30 seconds.

In Phoenix, Arizona, Harlem Globetrotters star Thunder Law set a new

record for the farthest basketball shot made backwards, netting from

25 metres. It did not even touch the backboard.

"Everyone around the world is trying to break the records and it's an

unbelievable experience," he said.

In Japan, 19-year-old Katsumi Tamakoshi set a new record for the

fastest 100 metres on all fours, finishing in 15.86 seconds.

And more than 750 students in Ibaraki Prefecture set a new record for

the most paper aircrafts made in five minutes — 4,880.

– Headbangers and high heels –

In Armidale in Australia, 320 pupils rocked their way into the record

books for the most people headbanging simultaneously, thrashing out to

AC/DC's track "It's A Long Way To The Top".

And Anthony Kelly added yet another world record to his list: most

spears caught from a spear gun underwater, catching 10 in a minute.

Records tumbled in China, where 25,703 people took part in the largest

line dance in Hangzhou.

Meanwhile the record for the most people eating breakfast in bed went

to 388 people at Shanghai's Pudong Shangri-La hotel, spread across 202

beds in the hotel's Grand Ballroom.

And in Changhua City, Taiwan, record-breakers cooked up the

largest-ever rice mosaic, measuring 1,798 square metres.

In London, 373 people have waddled their way to a new record for the

largest gathering of people dressed as penguins.

US fashion house Kenneth Cole set a record for the world's largest

high-heeled shoe, at 1.85 metres tall.

Brewing firm Guinness launched their famous records book in 1955 to

settle disputes among drinkers.

The books have sold more than 132 million copies in more than 100 countries.

All the record attempts are assessed by adjudicators from the organisation.

Kofi Oppong Kyekyeku

I am a Ghanaian Broadcast Journalist/Writer who has an interest in General News, Sports, Entertainment, Health, Lifestyle and many more.

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