Giant – The 36-year-old stands 2.46m tall, a great asset to his team but not everything is as simple as it seems
From our special correspondent at the Arena Paris Nord,
As we headed to Villepinte on Tuesday morning, the question crossed our minds: is this misplaced curiosity? Are we right to go and watch the Iranian sitting volleyball team play, the most dominant nation in this discipline with its seven Paralympic titles, to observe more particularly Morteza Mehrzadselajkani (usually shortened to Mehrzad), whose particularity is to be a giant, in the literal sense of the term? The 36-year-old player measures 2.46 m, a height that makes him the second tallest man in the world (behind the Turk Sultan Kösen, 2.51 m). And who attracts the eye, of course.
Doubts quickly dispelled. Already, the International Federation and the International Paralympic Committee do not hesitate to highlight this atypical profile, to promote the discipline and also share its history, which is no less so. Above all, we realized it once the match started, seeing him evolve allows us to try to understand how his great size helps his team, but can also be a disadvantage, sometimes. It is observing how he blends into such a strong collective, and how his coach uses him according to his needs and the moments of the match. And nothing better than this real shock of this phase of poul(…) - 20minutes
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