The Guinness book of world records: The biggest biceps, the sharpest Mohican and a two-feet tall lady
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Your support makes all the difference.Moustafa “Mo” Ismail, the owner of the world's largest biceps, eats 15 eggs for breakfast. He says it's what he needs, along with mountains of cheese, bread and protein, “to make myself full”. But despite his considerable heft, Mo wasn't the largest attraction at the launch of the new Guinness World Records book yesterday.
Sumo wrestler Sharran Alexander, whose 32-stone weight makes her the world's heaviest sportswoman, looked like she could make a canape of Jyoti Amge, who at 24.7 inches tall is the shortest living woman.
Ferried around like a pet chihuahua, Amge stars in the latest version of the increasingly eccentric almanac, which has sold more than 130 million copies worldwide. This year it opens with a man sporting the world's tallest Mohican – and then gets weirder.
The world's tallest dog (Zeus, a Great Dane measuring 44 inches from foot to withers) and the shortest bull (Archie, a 30-inch Dexter-breed who was "destined for beef") are among the 4,000 records listed this year.
As editor Craig Glenday puts it, the book is a celebration of "all the records" in a world where we only "celebrate a very narrow tranche of achievement". As a result: "Alongside Usain Bolt you'll see the person who can build a Mr Potato Head in the fastest time."
The record holders at yesterday's launch were thrilled by the attention. In most cases, record holders beg Guinness to turn their particular feat into a record. "We get around 50,000 claims and inquiries a year, most of which don't really go anywhere," says Mr Glenday. In many cases, they don't make it through because they're just too bizarre.
"We've had some terrible things: the youngest child to perform a caesarean birth – he was 15. A guy who gave himself surgery to look like Superman, and the world's longest drawing of an evil train – it went on for pages and pages. Someone submitted the dog with the fewest legs. It had three legs. People send stuff in because they're so fond of the book."
Alongside Usain Bolt, you'll see the person who can build a Mr Potato Head in the fastest time
The world's tallest dog – a Great Dane called Zeus, measuring 44in from foot to withers, and Mo Ismail, below, who has the largest biceps
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