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For reasons I’ve never totally understood, society seems to be absolutely obsessed with height, a lesson I’ve learned on a practically daily basis as someone who is frequently described as “freakishly tall.”
At 6’10”, I get to experience the perks of being a basketball player without any of the fame or the money (although I did get to experience what it’s like to play in the NBA the night I snuck into the draft).
Whenever I go out in public, it’s virtually guaranteed that someone will stop me on the street to inquire about my height and it’s rare to go out at night without at least one drunk person coming up to me to ask to take a picture with them.
People frequently ask me what it’s like to be as tall as I am and the honest answer is that it feels pretty damn normal; as far as I’m concerned, the rest of the population is just really short.
However, every once in a while, I encounter one of my kind in public and think to myself “Shit, that guy is really tall” before realizing that’s what virtually every person who passes by me in the street thinks to themselves when they see me.
A few months ago, I got the chance to chat with the 6′ 9″ Hafthór Björnsson—who you probably know better as The Mountain from Game of Thrones—and he’s probably one of the only people I’ve ever met who managed to make me feel small.
However, he has nothing on Olivier Richters.
Richters is a 7’2″ Dutchman whose claim to fame is being the tallest bodybuilder in the world and he recently popped up on my radar after appearing on Good Morning Britain to discuss what it’s like to be one of the most massive dudes on the planet.
Richters started lifting back in 2008 after he was injured playing basketball (which is the same reason Bjornsson started pumping iron) and it’s safe to say he’s come a long way since then.
The bodybuilder has developed quite a following on Instagram, where he racks up the likes by posting pictures like these.
C’mon dude. Save some for the rest of us.