No bed, no problem for world's second tallest man Morteza Mehrzad as he sets his sights on Paralympic hat-trick
Being a two-time Paralympic champion and world’s second tallest man comes with a big spotlight.
It does not guarantee a comfortable bed at the Paralympic Village though.
The star player of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s sitting volleyball team Morteza Mehrzadselakjani - better known as Mehrzad - who is 2.46 metres (8 ft 0.85 in) tall, does not mind.
“In Tokyo [2020], yes, they have made a special bed, but unfortunately not here [at Paris 2024]," the team’s head coach Hadi Rezaeigarkani told Olympics.com. "He's going to lie on the floor.
“He doesn’t have a special bed, but he has got the most important aim in his mind. It doesn’t matter for him whether he will lay on the floor or he’s not going to have enough to eat. In any way, he has the mind to become a champion.”
Mehrzad and his teammates indeed have a big mission ahead of them – to win their eighth Paralympic title in sitting volleyball for the nation. Iran won seven of the nine tournaments they have competed at since their first try at Seoul 1988.
A gold at Paris 2024 would be a hat-trick for Mehrzad who made his Paralympic debut in 2016, also becoming the tallest athlete to ever compete at a Paralympic Games.
Team Iran's victory at Tokyo 2020 was Morteza Mehrzadselakjani's second Paralympic gold medal.
From isolation to worldwide recognition: Morteza Mehrzadselakjani's transformation through sport
Coach Hadi Rezaeigarkani was the one who discovered Mehrzadselakjani when the future athlete appeared on a TV reality show in 2011 to talk about the challenges he faces in everyday life. He reached out to the network to ask for a way to contact the young man.
Mehrzadselakjani was diagnosed with acromegaly at a young age, a rare condition that causes excess growth in parts of the body. A bicycle accident in his teenage years resulted in an injured pelvis and stunted the growth of his right leg. It is now about six inches shorter than his left leg with the 36-year-old athlete sometimes using a wheelchair to move.
Rezaeigarkani, who himself started playing sitting volleyball in 1983 and has competed at three Paralympic Games as a player, understands well the struggles Mehrzad has gone through as a person with disability.
“I believe that Morteza has spent 11 years in his room, in his house, without going out," Rezaeigarkani said. "Because he is the tallest man, when he wanted to leave the home and come outside, unfortunately, he was not satisfied because so many people [stared at] him. But nowadays all people are going to look at him as a champion.”
Mehrzad joined the national team in 2015 and went to his first Paralympic Games, at Rio 2016, six months later. That tournament saw Iran back at the top of the podium after finishing with silver at London 2012.
The team defended their Paralympic title at Tokyo 2020 with Mehrzad grabbing the spotlight as one of their key players.
His powerful spikes make "the kind giant” a formidable foe for Iran's opponents. Even when sitting down on the court, with his arms raised Mehrzad is over six feet tall.
He was named the Most Valuable Player and Best Spiker at Tokyo 2020, and Best Spiker at the 2022 world championships.
So, is Mehrzad the best sitting volleyball player ever? His coach smiles, shakes his head, and says it is about much more than this.
“I don’t think so," he said. “But Morteza can be considered the best player on our team. As a matter of fact, if you go back to Morteza when he was 12 years old, no one had any consideration for him, but when he became a sitting volleyball player, everyone, all around the world know him and respect him. I would like to give you one sentence – I believe that each person has got potential in the world and we have to discover it.”
Morteza Mehrzad's quest for golden hat-trick
Mehrzad's campaign for his career's third Paralympic gold medal started on Friday (30 August), with a three-set victory in a preliminary round match against Ukraine.
Emphasising that all players on the team deserve a spotlight, Rezaeigarkani got Iran's most famous sitting volleyball player on the court for just one set where Mehrzad recorded three points.
“Since I have 12 players, Morteza can be considered as one of them," Rezaeigarkani explained. "They have to compete. That means all the players have their chance to play. The most important thing for the coach is to get a victory."
While the team's sights are set on one goal – to win their eighth Paralympic crown – Rezaeigarkani is also hoping that this success and the spotlight on the world's second tallest man will attract more people to the sport he has devoted almost four decades of his life to.
“Have you ever seen the game? How interesting it was!" he said. "We have a mind to play interesting in order to attract so many people to sitting volleyball, especially the disabled people.”
“This is our team and we know that we are going to be the champions during these competitions," Rezaeigarkani added. "We have tried to do our best during the last two years to win the Games and become the champions. We are not guaranteed winning, but anyway, but we do believe that whatever we have already done, we are going to become the champions.