Indonesian eyes record for world's tallest man

Wed, Dec 02, 2009 AFP

JAKARTA - A 25-year-old Indonesian labourer could be a contender for the title of world's tallest man, currently held by Turkish farmer Sultan Kosen, a local archivist said.

Suparwono, who like many Indonesians goes by just one name, stands 2.71 metres (8.89 feet) tall according to unofficial measurements, compared to Kosen's record height of 2.47 metres.

He shot to fame this week after one of his relatives in his home village of Tri Tunggal Jaya, in Sumatra island's southern Lampung province, invited neighbours to take pictures of him.

Within days he was appearing on television talk shows in Jakarta as the "Giant of Lampung".

"Our team will name him today as Indonesia's tallest man, breaking a previous record of 2.21 metres," Indonesia's Museum of Records manager Ngadri said.

"We will make some approaches for him to be registered (with Guinness World Records) as the tallest man in the world," he added.

Suparwono said sometimes he felt "proud" of his height but "it also gives me problems because I can't live like normal people", citing the difficulty of fitting into public buses and finding clothes large enough for his frame.

"I started to realise my exceptional height when I was 10 years old. At that time, I was already the tallest at my school and in my village," he told AFP between television appearances.

"I eat three kilograms (6.61 pounds) of rice every day and at least 15 eggs," he added.

One of five children, he hoped as a teenager to be a basketball star but his body couldn't stand the stress of elite sport, according to his former coach, Willy Winoto.

"After two years of training we found that he was unable to become a national athlete because of his bone problems. His anatomical structure isn't good enough to be an athlete," Winoto said.

Suparwono lives with his parents and earns money doing odd jobs around the village.

But Lampung Governor Sjachroedin Zainal promised to give him a "proper job" and make him an ambassador for the province.

"He's one of our provincial assets. In 2010 we'll name him as the 'Visit Lampung Year' icon," he said.

Source: AsianOne News