Dzhambulat Khatokhov

Facts

Biography

At the age of eight, Dzhambik and his mother visited Japan to be part of a television program, "Impossible", on Fuji Television. His mother, Nelya Kabardarkova, who lives comfortably because of her son's fame, has denied all accusations of fuelling his growth and says she is encouraging Dzhambik's wish to become a sumo wrestler. Dzhambik also attends sumo battles. In 2003, he wrestled Georgy Bibilauri, another large teenager in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. By the age of nine, Dzhambik weighted 146.1 kg (322 lb).

Doctors are unsure of the cause of his fast growth. In 2008, the British doctor Ian Campbell, one of the world's leading experts in obesity, visited Dzhambik and performed a series of tests on him at a Moscow clinic where he is treated every year for his obesity. The tests showed that 9 year old Dzhambik's bones were the size of an average 15-year-old boy. He was also tested for anabolic steroids, which can cause abnormal bone growth, but the results were negative. As shown on an episode of Body Shock, Campbell and other health care professionals urged Dzambik's mother to help the boy eat a better diet and lose weight to improve his health, but Nelya rejected their advice and insisted the boy was healthy and capable of becoming a sumo wrestler or other sportsman. In 2006, journalist Nick Patton Walsh wrote in The Guardian that Nelya demanded money in order for him to meet Dzambik; Walsh hestitated as such payments were against Guardian policy but eventually relented, paying £160 or about 8000 rubles.

Dzhambik's size earned him the nickname Sosruko after an ancient hero from local mythology. Sosruko was a giant, a fierce warrior who protected his people and embodied qualities people in the Caucasus greatly respect: strength and size. According to Nelya Kabardarkova, her son's grandfather was also known as a Bogatyr, a Russian word for a sort of gentle giant.

Dzhambik appeared on many Russian TV Shows, but gained world recognition through the UK Channel 4 series BodyShock in the episode "World's Biggest Boy" which aired on many TV channels around the world.