Paris 2024 Paralympics | They will give us chills: Morteza Mehrzad 

He is the team's master asset, the control tower that has enabled the representatives of the Islamic Republic to dominate the world for over 35 years: 7 gold medals and 2 silver medals in the last 9 Paralympic men's sitting volleyball tournaments.

Morteza Mehrzad is 2m46 tall. Officially, he is now the second tallest living man in the world (the first is a Turk, Sultan Kosel, at 2m51). Sitting with his arms raised, Morteza stands at almost 1m95, while the sitting volleyball net is 1m15. In other words, for the opponent on the other side of the net, he's a mountain, and one that usually proves insurmountable. He impresses, he scares, he blocks perfectly, but he's not just tall. He hits hard and his attacks are like rockets. He also has a real feel for the ball, and knows how to send the right pass at the right time to put his opponents off their game.

Unbeaten run to continue in Paris

When he was born in 1987, he was diagnosed with acromegaly or gigantism, a condition characterised by the body's excessive production of growth hormones. When he was an adolescent, a bicycle accident caused a fracture in his pelvis, which halted, or at least slowed, the growth of his right leg, to the point where it is now 15 centimetres shorter than his left. The giant with a disability then found refuge in sport. Spotted by national sitting volleyball coaches at the age of 24, he joined a training centre, progressed at club level and made his international debut with the Iranian national team in March 2016, a few months before the Rio Paralympic Games. He immediately proved decisive, top-scoring in the final against Bosnia in a 3-1 victory. The scenario was repeated two years later at the world championships, this time with a 3-0 victory over the same opponents, and two more gold medals were to follow in Tokyo in 2021, then at the following world championships in 2022.

The Iranians arrive in Paris with the firm intention of continuing their unbeaten run. And if they are to extend it even further, they will be counting on their lethal weapon, Morteza Mehrzad, to add to it!