PARALYMPIC GAMES – He is the big star of sitting volleyball in Paris, yet he does not have the same comfort as his partners or opponents. At the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, it is literally impossible to miss Morteza Mehrzad, the Iranian athlete who won the Olympic sitting volleyball championship in Rio and Tokyo.
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His uniqueness? Morteza Mehrzad is the tallest man in Iran, the tallest Paralympian of all time, and the second tallest living man in the world. Just that.
Suffering from acromegaly, a disease caused by excess growth hormone, the 2m46 Iranian has quite logically become a formidable asset for his country’s national team, still in the running for the gold medal after beating Germany in its last preliminary round match on Tuesday, September 3.
A phenomenon on and off the field, Morteza Mehrzad was reportedly a little cramped in the Paralympic Village. According to his coach, who spoke to the official website of the Games, Olympics.com on August 30, when it came to sleeping, the athlete ” must lie on the ground » car « he doesn’t have a special bed ».
« In Tokyo he had a special, but not here, unfortunately. “, also assured his coach Hadi Rezaeigarkani, the man who allowed him to become a two-time Paralympic champion.
Contacted by Le HuffPostParis 2024 specifies that this problem is now resolved, since the “ The beds in the Athletes’ Village are made from modular cardboard bed bases, with possible extensions. “Ahead of the Games, ” The Iranian Paralympic Committee had requested two extensions for athlete Morteza Mehrzad’s bed from Paris 2024, which were provided “. Then, ” a third extension ” was also requested by the Iranian Paralympic Committee, which was also provided to them, indicates the Paris 2024 press service.
« The athlete now has the equipment necessary for his comfort “, it is further specified. It remains to be seen whether Morteza Mehrzad decided to use it. Because the ground does not seem to particularly bother the one nicknamed the “ gentle giant ». « He doesn’t care about lying on the ground or not eating enough. Either way, he intends to become a champion.n”, his coach says in the same interview.
Iran’s Lethal Weapon
In search of a Paralympic hat-trick in Paris, Morteza Mehrzad arrived involuntarily in the world of sitting volleyball. Now 36 years old, it was at the age of 28 that he was spotted by Hadi Rezaeigarkani in an Iranian reality TV show about individuals in difficulty. Because in addition to his great height, he must also live with the after-effects of a bicycle accident that occurred in adolescence. Victim of a pelvic injury during this fall, he suffered a growth retardation in his right leg, which is now 15 centimeters shorter than his other leg.
“The physique that I once considered very bad helped me in this game and I was able to make good use of it”Morteza Mehrzad confided to AFP a few days before the Games. And it is an understatement to say that his arrival in the Iranian team changed everything.
Since 2015, the player’s imposing height has been a crucial asset for the Iranian selection, forcing opposing teams to reconsider their strategies. But no matter the tactics of the other selections, in the end it is Iran that wins. As was the case in the last three editions of the Paralympic Games. The Iranian giant has also become the reference of his sport in recent years, winning no less than three Ballon d’Or awards for best player in the world, in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
A status that allows him to continue to make his country shine in this discipline historically dominated by Iran, which has participated in the sitting volleyball Paralympic Games since 1988 in Seoul, finishing champion in seven of the nine competitions.
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