There aren’t many people who can outshine former muscleman Hafthor “Thor” Björnsson – whose doorframe-filling stature stands at 6’10” – but Dutch actor, bodybuilder and fitness model Olivier Richters is one of them.

However, that is not his only claim to fame. Quite the opposite. Richter’s enormous height of 7’6″ has earned him a place in the history books – specifically, the Guinness Book of Records – as the tallest professional male bodybuilder in the world.

In case you’re wondering, his imposing stature isn’t due to any illness. The man is just really, really tall. “They call me a natural giant and I’m very grateful for that because I can live a normal, healthy life, but as a giant,” says Richters, whose nickname happens to be “the Dutch giant.”

So what do you eat when you’re over 7 feet tall and built like a barn door? “To maintain my figure, I have to eat 7,000 calories a day,” says Richter. “I break that down into seven meals, 1,000 calories per meal, 60 grams of protein per meal, and I have to do it in a simple way, otherwise it takes too long.”

Richter’s record height was confirmed in Eemnes, the Netherlands, in April 2021. But surprisingly, he was initially unsure whether to accept the Guinness World Record title.

“I said no because the definition of a bodybuilder is not clear,” he explains. “There are competitive bodybuilders – those who compete on stage – but also people who do the sport for another reason, like me as a professional non-competitive athlete for the film industry.”

That’s why the Guinness World Records team created two categories: “Tallest Competitive Bodybuilder” and “Tallest Non-Competitive/Professional Bodybuilder.”

For professional bodybuilding, Richters says, “size is a terrible disadvantage. But imagine having a body that big and being able to create the look of a bodybuilder. How great that can look in movies. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

So far, it’s paying off. Richter’s big-screen debut came in July 2021, when he starred as Ursa Major in the Marvel film Black Widow. He can also be seen in Matthew Vaughn’s The King’s Man, which is set for release on December 22, 2021, and the upcoming film Borderlands, which will hit the box office in 2022.

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