Tallest Living Man Reinstated as Tallest Living Man

Guinness World Records announced that China’s Bao Xi Shun (7 feet 8.95 inches) has recaptured the record as the world’s Tallest Living Man from Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk (8 feet 5.5 inch).

Guidelines for the title were amended earlier this year, in order to ensure the highest level of accuracy in determining this category. All contenders to the Tallest Living Man title must now be measured in person by an official Guinness World Records adjudicator. As a result, Xi Shun, who lost the recognition last year to Stadnyk, is re-crowned in the 2009 edition of the Guinness World Records.

Guinness World Records crowned Stadnyk the world’s Tallest Living Man based on a statement provided by his medical practitioner and not by an official measurement by Guinness officials.

The company decided to tighten its rules and stipulate that a doctor’s testimony no longer suffices as evidence for any “tallest” or “shortest” claim. After repeated requests to measure Stadnyk in person went unanswered, Guinness World Records returned the title to Xi Shun in compliance with its new regulations.