Leonid Ivanovych Stadnyk (born 1971 in Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR) is a man who is formerly listed as the world's tallest living man according to Guinness World Records 2008. On August 20, 2008, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, Craig Glenday, announced that the title of world's tallest man returned to China's Bao Xishun after Ukrainian Leonid Stadnyk refused to be measured under new guidelines, which required him to be independently measured by Guinness World Records adjudicators.
On August 8, 2007, Guinness book's spokeswoman Amarilis Espinoza stated that in the 2008 edition of the record book, Mr Stadnyk at 2.57m (8 ft 5.2 in), appeared to be taller than Bao Xishun, a native of Inner Mongolia in China who stands 2.36 m (7 ft 8.9 in). However, Stadnyk refused to be measured and was consequently denied the GWR recognition. Others have questioned the legitimacy of the record, noting that Stadnyk has never been officially measured by Guinness World Records, only by the "Ukrainian Book of Records" that certificates that he measure 2.53m, and that the doctor originally credited by Guinness with confirming Stadnyk's height has denied ever measuring him.
Leonid Stadnyk's excessive growth began after brain surgery when he was 14 years old. He developed a pituitary gland tumor which caused the gland to secrete large amounts of growth hormone, resulting in what doctors describe as acromegalic gigantism. Twenty years after the surgery, the doctors have discovered the tumour had mysteriously disappeared and he is currently healthy. A Pravda news report in Spring 2006 reported that Leonid Stadnyk grew 2 cm (0.79 in) in the previous year, not accounting the time between the original Spring 2004 report and Spring 2005. According to Pravda, his health is slowly failing in that he needs to hold on to limbs of trees and the side of his house to walk about.
He is a certified veterinarian and veterinary surgeon and lives with his mother in the village of Podolyantsi, Ukraine.
See also
- Robert Wadlow (1918–1940), tallest man in history
References
External links
- PHOTO from life of giant
- AP article
- San Clemente doctor gets to know giant, The Orange County Register
- Photo at Ukrainian country side, Photos in UemA
- "Ukrainian is world's tallest man". BBC News, Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
- Guinness official record of Leonid Stadnyk's height, based on a measurement by the Ukrainian Book of Records.
- Daily Mail article on Leonid Stadnyk
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Saturday October 11, 2008 at 18:31:37 PDT (GMT -0700)
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