How’s this for a tall story? A Chinese man has been confirmed as the world’s tallest living man because a “taller” Ukrainian refuses to be measured, Guinness World Records said last week.
Bao Xishun, who is 2.36m tall, had lost his title last year to Leonid Stadnyk, whose height was certified by a local doctor as 2.53m.
But Guinness has changed its guidelines for the category and all pretenders to the title now have to be measured by an official judge.
Stadnyk had been crowned the tallest living human based on a statement from his doctor, but he has failed to respond to requests from Guinness to measure him.
Bao, who has been measured by Guinness, will therefore regain his title when the 2009 book of records is published this year.
Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, said: “We are the authority on world records and our obligation is to provide the public with the most accurate information possible.
“According to our new guidelines, Leonid Stadnyk does not meet the criteria for the evidence required to support his claim, which is why we felt that it was only fair to give it to Bao Xishun, whom we have measured in person.
“We still hope to hear from Stadnyk and anyone else in the world for that matter so we can travel to meet him and officially measure his height.”
Stadnyk is believed to be 2.56m tall, but hates his height and doesn’t want to be famous for it. At school Stadnyk was nicknamed “titch” because he was so small, but after routine surgery at the age of 14, he developed an unusual condition which caused him to grow abnormally tall.
(STAFF WRITER WITH AFP)
金氏世界紀錄上週表示，在一位「身高更高」的烏克蘭人不願配合測量後，中國一名男子已獲認證為世界現存最高男子。這個「高度」誇張的故事聽起來如何？
Roland: What are you doing with that lawn mower, Ziggy?
Ziggy: I’m just making a final check before I start my journey across the US.
Roland: So why are you checking the lawn mower?
Ziggy: Because I’m going to break the world record for the longest distance traveled on a lawn mower. It’s currently 23,400km.
Roland: I think you’re crazy. Aren’t you worried you’ll get lost?
Ziggy: Not at all. I’ll just follow my nose and see where I end up.
羅蘭：吉基，你弄那台除草機幹嘛？
吉基：我只是在為我橫跨美國之旅做最後的檢查。
羅蘭：那你為什麼要檢查那台除草機？
吉基：因為我打算打破世界乘除草機旅行最遠的紀錄，目前的紀錄是兩萬三千四百公里。
羅蘭：我覺得你瘋了，你不擔心你會迷路嗎？
吉基：一點也不，我打算一路朝前直走，看看最後可以到哪。
follow your nose 一路朝前直走�順從直覺
If you follow your nose, you continue in a straight line, or follow your instincts. For example: “The supermarket’s easy to find. Just follow your nose for two blocks. You can’t miss it.”
如果你「follow your nose」，就表示你持續朝著前方直走，或是跟隨你的直覺。例如：「那個超市很好找，只要直走過兩條街後，你就會看到了」。
兩百三十六公分高的鮑喜順，去年被李奧尼德．史塔德尼克搶走他世界第一高人的頭銜；烏克蘭當地一名醫師證明史塔德尼克的身高有兩百五十三公分。
但金氏最近修改了這個類別的判定標準，規定所有有意角逐頭銜者都必須接受官方評判員的測量。
史塔德尼克因醫生的聲明而受封為世界現存第一高人，但他卻未回應金氏世界紀錄進行官方測量的要求。
因此，已接受金氏官方測量的鮑喜順，將在今年出版的《二ＯＯ九金氏世界紀錄大全》中重獲此頭銜。
《金氏世界紀錄大全》的總編輯葛雷格．格藍戴說：「我們是世界紀錄的權威組織，我們的責任就是盡可能提供大眾最精確的資訊。」
「根據我們新的評選原則，李奧尼德．史塔德尼克沒有拿出符合標準所需的證據佐證他宣稱的身高。因此我們認為，只有讓已接受過測量的鮑喜順得到這個頭銜才公平。」
「我們仍然希望和史塔德尼克先生、或世上任何希望角逐此頭銜的人取得聯繫，好讓我們登門拜訪、正式測量身高。」
史塔德尼克據信有兩百五十六公分高，但他的身高為他帶來困擾，他也不希望因此出名。史塔德尼克以前身材嬌小，在校時的綽號是「小矮個兒」，但他十四歲那年動了一場例行手術後，竟開始出現異常，結果變成一個身高非比尋常的高個兒。
（法新社�翻譯：袁星塵）
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