The story of Khagendra Thapa Magar created a lot of interest in the media. He is 14 years old but his height is just 20 inches or 50 cm and weight is just 4.5 kg or 10 pounds. His family is claiming that that he is the world’s shortest man and most probably he is. In fact, Younis Edwan is considered to be the shortest man in the world now. He is from Jordan and his height is 65cm (15 cm more than Khagendra). So, naturally, Khagendra should get recognition from Guinness World Records but it seems that Guinness World Records is not so keen to acknowledge him. I am quoting from a report of Scotsman.com:
“A Nepali boy's hope of being declared the world's shortest was dismissed on Monday by Guinness World Records which said he was too young to qualify.
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"There is a possibility that he could be the shortest person in the world, however Guinness World Records cannot examine more details until he reaches the age of 18 years," Amarilis Espinoza, a Guinness World Records spokeswoman, said by email from London.
"After that age, we will be happy to review the case," she said.
The current record is held by a Jordanian man, Younis Edwan, who is 25.5 inches (65 cm) tall, the London-based group said.”
So, Khagendra will have to wait another 4 years. Well, I am not happy with the decision of Guinness World Records. If Khagendra was not from Nepal but from Europe and US then I am sure Guinness World Records would not discard him so easily. He is 14 and in this age his height is 50 cm which is itself a very remarkable incident. If he got recognition from Guinness then his family could raise enough money and ensure a bright future for him.
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Rules are rules, regardless of where you are from. They say you have to be 18, so he must wait. I mean newborns are less than 20" most of the time, so why not let them be counted? You have to have a cutoff point.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 5, 2006 11:37 AM | Permalink to Comment