According to The Sun on Monday, Sultan Kosen, who stands at 8ft 3in, and Jyoti Amge, who is just 2ft tall, were a striking pair as they posed for pictures in Irvine, California, on Monday.
There is a 6ft height difference between the two, who earned their respective Guiness World Record titles in 2009 for ‘Tallest Living Man’ and 2011 for ‘Shortest Living Woman’.
Kosen, 41, from Turkey, and Amge, 30, from India, previously met for a photoshoot in Cairo, Egypt, in 2018, where they posed in front of the Giza Pyramids as part of a campaign to revive the country’s struggling tourism industry.
Their tall and small stature was caused by medical conditions. Amge has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia that stopped her growth, while Kosen had a tumor that caused pituitary gigantism, which gave him a massive growth spurt aged 10.
According to the Guinness World Records, Kosen is the first person in more than a decade to measure over 8ft and is one of only 10 confirmed cases in history.
While he is the tallest man in the world, his family members are all average size. Kosen was also normal height up until his growth spurt when he was 10 years old.
His massive size is the result of a condition known as ‘pituitary gigantism,’ which is caused by an over-production of growth hormone.
Kosen unable to complete his education due to his size supported his family by working as a farmer.
In 2013, he married Merve Dibo, a Syrian native ten years his junior, though the language barrier between Turkish and Arabic posed communication challenges, ultimately leading to their divorce in 2021. Kosen ventured into acting, starring in the 2016 film “Achieving the Impossible” after traveling to Hollywood.In 2016, he traveled to Hollywood for his starring role in the film Achieving the Impossible.
On the other hand, Amge’s diminutive stature, resulting from achondroplasia, is characteristic of her condition, with the average female affected typically growing to 48 inches tall.
Her petite frame gained worldwide recognition, particularly after being officially declared the world’s smallest woman in 2011, weighing just 11 pounds as a teenager.
She pursued acting, notably appearing alongside A-list stars like Jessica Lange in “American Horror Story: Freak Show” as Ma Petit in 2014.
