An eight-foot tall Paralympian is too tall to fit into any of the beds at the athlete’s village for the Paris Games.
Morteza Mehrzadselakjani is a player on the Iranian sitting volleyball team, and is currently competing in Paris alongside his teammates at the 2024 Paralympics.
At a staggering height of 8ft 1in, he is the second-tallest person in the world and the seventh-tallest in human history.
But his incredible height has been an issue in Paris at the athletes village, where he has been forced to sleep on the floor because there is no bed that can accommodate him.
His coach Hadi Rezaei says this won’t affect his performance though, due to his champion mentality.
He told Olympics.com: “It doesn’t matter if he lies on the ground or if he doesn’t have enough to eat. He has the mind to become a champion.”
When he competed at Tokyo 2020, Mehrzadselakjani – or Mehrzad for short – had a special bed made for him. However, he hadn’t been provided with one to start the Paris games.
Since the start of the games, organisers have told Iran’s National Paralympic Committee (PNC) they could provide two extensions for the standard beds at the Paralympic village after a request from Iran’s NPC.
However, the BBC reports that this is still no likely to make the bed big enough.
Mehrzad made his sitting volleyball debut at the Paralympics in 2016. Since then, Iran have dominated the sport, winning two successive Paralympic golds and two successive world titles.
Taller than any professional basketball player, the Iranian can smash a ball that is 6ft 4in off the ground, while sitting, and can cover a third of the net on his own.
After a cycling accident at the age of 13, his pelvis was fractured so severely that it stunted the growth of his right leg.
He has a genetic condition called acromegaly, caused by excessive growth hormone production in the brain, and his right leg ended up growing six inches shorter than his left. His condition means that he is still growing, and people with acromegaly are predicted to live on average 10 years fewer than those without the condition.
After suffering depression for years and confining himself to his home, it was only when he appeared on an Iranian TV show that he started his journey in para-sport.
He appeared on one of Iran’s most popular shows, Mah-e Asal, and told his story to the nation. In the studio audience that day was his future coach, who saw his potential in sitting volleyball, according to the Telegraph.
Speaking about the impact the sport has had on his life, Mehrzad said: “Sitting volleyball allowed me to affirm my personality.
“Today, I read pride in people’s eyes. Some do not know that I am disabled. Before discovering this sport, I was a person known only for my height. Everything has changed for me since then, financially, socially.
“It has changed my life so much that I can’t imagine life without it. I can never thank Mr Hadi enough. If he hadn’t believed in me, I wouldn’t be here today.”
In his career, Mehrzad has been named world player of the year three times, and is an icon of Iranian sport.
Iran are once again strong favourites for Paralympic gold, and Mehrzad will be hoping to guide his side to glory once more.
The athlete is still humble though, saying that the tag of best in the world doesn’t sit well with him.
“I appreciate being called the best, but I’m not,” he said. “Each of us makes the best team in the world.”
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