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Igor Vovkovinskiy poses with cheerleaders before an event with Barack Obama (August 2011)
Photo:
Nati Harnik / AP
The tallest man in the United States is dead: The 2.35 meter tall Igor Vovkovinskiy died on Friday at the age of 38 in the US state of Minnesota of a heart condition, as his mother announced on Facebook.
Vovkovinskiy, originally from Ukraine, suffered from various diseases throughout his life. As a child, he was discovered to have a tumor that caused an excessive release of growth hormones. Because of his illness, his family moved to Rochester, Minnesota, a city known for its medical care. Despite treatment, Vovkovinskiy continued to grow, reaching a record size that put him in the Guiness Book of Records.
Vovkovinskiy made national headlines when he shook hands with ex-President Barack Obama at an event.
Obama had noticed the man who towered over everyone else in the crowd and wore a t-shirt that read "World's Biggest Obama Supporter".
At the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, Vovkovinskiy carried the representative of Ukraine in his arms onto the stage.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the tallest man in the world is currently the Turkish Sultan Kösen, he is 2.51 meters tall.
The tallest man of the modern age, however, is the American Robert Wadlow, who was 2.72 meters tall.
He died in 1940 at the age of only 22.
aar / AFP