Me: So I currently have found 3 main contenders for the tallest couples in the modern era who are still alive. I have previously done  a post talking about the tallest couple in history with Anna Haining Bates and Martin Van Buren Bates but not about the tallest living couples today.

So they are…

Contenders #1: Wayne and Laurie Hallquist at 6′ 10.4″ and 6′ 6″ respectively = combined total height of 13 ‘ 4″ or 407. 4 cm. (this would make the couple tallest in the USA)

Contenders #2: Wilco Van Kleef-Bolton is 7ft and his partner Keisha is 6ft 5in = combine total height of 13′ 5″ (this would make the couple tallest in the UK)

Contenders #3: Yao Ming and his wife who have been consistently reported at 7′ 6″ and 6′ 2.5″ = combined total height of 13′ 8.5″ (this would make the couple tallest in China)

Note: What I don’t understand is why Yao has not decided to contact Guinness World Records and not take the title of tallest couple from the other two contenders. His height can easy overwhelm the male height of the other two couples. 

From source link 1 HERE

California couple stand out as world’s tallest

(Reuters) – Their height made Wayne and Laurie Hallquist seem like an ideal match when they met seven years ago, and on Thursday they were matched with something else — the title of world’s tallest living married couple.

Guinness World Records bestowed that towering distinction to the Hallquists in a ceremony under the marquee at its Hollywood museum. The couple arrived in a white limousine, with Wayne sporting a tuxedo and Laurie in a white wedding dress.

The Hallquists, who live in Stockton, California, measure a combined 13 feet, 4 inches, or 407.4 centimeters, to be exact. He stands 6 feet 10.4 inches, she 6 feet 5.95 inches, the Guinness organization said.

“It’s a whole different perspective up here, and we can find each other quite easily in a crowd,” Laurie told Reuters.

“We can see several people going bald that might not know it at the moment,” joked Wayne, 57, who works as a telephone company wire splicer.

The Hallquists said that when they met at a church singles club in 2003, they could tell that others around them were sizing up a possible love affair because of their height.

“She walked in, everyone looked at her, then they looked at me,” Wayne said.

But while Wayne said it was love at first sight for him, Laurie their first meeting came up short.

“He talked about the size of my hands and feet, which is kind of a no-no,” said Laurie, 46. “And then the second time we had a chance to talk, I figured out he was a really good guy.”

They have been married for seven years, but it took the Hallquists until this year to contact Guinness World Records.

The couple said they were discouraged at first from making a play for world’s tallest couple, because they read online that a man and a woman each standing over 7 feet had married in the 19th century.

Only this year did they realize they could compete in another category: world’s tallest living married couple.

Guinness previously listed a couple in England — Wilco and Keisha van Kleef-Bolton — as the world’s tallest couple at a combined height of 13 feet, 3 inches.

The Hallquists knew they could beat that — by an inch. So they contacted Guinness, and the organization had them measured by a doctor and a notary to make it official.

Laurie, a former college basketball player who now works as a realtor, said she dated shorter men before Wayne, including one “kind of macho” guy who stood 5-foot-7. She described that pairing as “a little awkward” and said that she likes looking up to her husband — at least physically.

If recent history is any indication, the Hallquists may have a limited time to stand out. The van Kleef-Boltons were only named world’s tallest couple last year, before the Hallquists stepped up to challenge them.

“There may be people who are taller than the Hallquists, but unless we go out and can measure them, the Hallquists have the record all to themselves,” said Guinness World Records adjudicator Stuart Claxton.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis, Editing by Steve Gorman and Peter Bohan)

From source link 2 HERE

Their family’s still growing! World’s tallest married couple welcome huge 9.2lb son to follow in his father’s size 15 footsteps

• Wilco Van Kleef-Bolton is 7ft and his partner Keisha is 6ft 5in
• Newborn Jonah measured impressive 56cm – only 2 per cent of neonatals are longer
  
• Their other son, Lucas, 6, is already 4ft 5.5in, the height of an 11-year-old
• Their daughter Eva, 4, is 3ft 7in – the typical height of a five-year-old

By NICK ENOCH

PUBLISHED: 10:22 GMT, 11 July 2012 | UPDATED: 14:04 GMT, 11 July 2012

When your parents are the world’s tallest married couple, there’s a strong chance you too are going to stand out from the crowd. And Keisha and Wilco Van Kleef-Bolton’s latest arrival is no exception.Weighing in at 9.2lb, baby Jonah already seems to be following in his father’s giant size 15 footsteps. Jonah measured an impressive 56cm when he was born, hitting the 98th percentile of baby lengths – meaning only 2 per cent of newborns are this length or longer.

Jonah, who was born in June, is set to add to the Van Kleef-Boltons’ combined height of 21ft – which is almost four feet taller than an average couple with children the same age.

Keisha and Wilco, from Dagenham, Essex, currently hold a Guinness World Record for being the world’s tallest couple.

Keisha, 32, said: ‘I love being a mum and I love watching my children grow up tall like their parents.

‘We would love to be the world’s tallest family – but we’ve a way to go yet.

‘If Jonah is anything like Wilco and Lucas, he will break every height marker for his age.

‘We’re already investing in clothes for three-year-olds and only buying a few outfits for very new babies because our kids grow so fast.

‘Because I’m used to having tall kids, Jonah seems extra tiny at the moment. But at 9lb 2oz, he was a big baby and he’s already gone up to more than 10lb.

‘I’m a very protective mother and being so tall means I can keep an eye on where my kids are at all times.’

Keisha, who wore men’s clothes when she was pregnant because there weren’t any maternity outfits big enough, said the couple would like another child.

She said: ‘Four is a nice number, but we have enough on our hands for the time being.

‘We’ll have to wait until Lucas and Eva are bigger – which by the looks of things isn’t going to be long.’

Keisha met school security guard Wilco, 31, after putting an ad out through the Tall Persons Club UK looking for a dance partner.

When the couple married in 2001, they raised the doorframes in their home to stop them clipping their heads.

The couple still have a bedroom that is only big enough for a standard double bed, forcing them to sleep with their feet hanging out.

Wilco, who has 40-inch legs, stood at 5ft 10in by the time he was just ten.

His wife said she suffered from jokes at school about her height and had to stop wearing high heels when she was 18 and her shoe size went past an eight.

Wilco said: ‘Jonah is a fantastic addition to our family and Lucas and Eva are crazy about him.

‘The biggest problem at the moment is teaching our kids to ride their bikes because being so tall we have to bend over constantly, which is quite painful for our backs.

‘Lucas has already grown out of his school uniform this year so we’ll have to get him trousers for 10-year-olds next.

‘They both go through about three pairs of shoes per year.’

Dutch-born Wilco buys his clothes from specialist websites that normally supply size 15 shoes to American basketball players.

And Keisha struggles to find outlets which supply clothes which cater for her 38in legs – despite being a size 12.

She said: ‘I use normal women’s dresses as shirts because they come up so short. I can never find things I like in my size.

‘Flying on budget airlines with no legroom is a problem too.

‘But there are perks – I never have to use a stepladder to reach the top shelf.’