World tallest and shortest men meet on Records Day

The world's tallest and shortest men came face to shin today 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.

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 he world is trying to break the records and it's an unbelievable experience," he said.