At a height of 2.46 meters, Morteza Mehrzadselakjani He is not only the second tallest living person in the world, but also a sitting volleyball star.
Despite chronic illness and an accident that left him wheelchair-bound, Mehrzad transformed these hardships into a force propelling Iran to Paralympic glory in Paris 2024.
He Paris Nord Arena surrendered before another unstoppable victory by the Iranian team, which lost Germany 3-0 in the last match of the group stage of the Paralympic event.
From the moment Morteza, Iran’s star player, stepped onto the court, the atmosphere changed dramatically. A respectful silence was replaced by cheers and waving flags as the No. 2 of the team performed blocks and spikes that seemed impossible to stop.
Despite his difficulties in walking, which forces him to enter the court in drag, Mehrzad has shown that this apparent disadvantage is his greatest strength.
“It was a great game, Morteza is a great player, one of the best. He has done a lot for the team and always tries to give his best,” he told EFE. Ali KashfiaIranian sitting volleyball star and member of the technical team of the national team.
At age 16, he was diagnosed with acromegaly, a chronic disease that causes the body to produce too much growth hormone. Furthermore, in the same year, he fell while riding a bicycle causing serious injuries.
Since then, and despite several operations, his right leg has stopped growing and is about 15 centimeters shorter than his left, leading him to use a wheelchair. These difficulties led him to isolate himself, because, as he himself declared, because of his disability “he was very depressed.”
“I feel like I’m in a prison and I’m afraid to come out because of my appearance,” she added.
Her life changed when the coach of the Iranian national sitting volleyball team, Hadi Rezaei, discovered her on a reality show about people with physical disabilities and unusual talents. Since then, Mehrzad has found in volleyball “a new reason to live.”
Morteza faced an unexpected challenge at the Paris Paralympic Games: the lack of a bed adapted to his unusual height.
In Tokyo, he was given a special bed for his rest, but in Paris he had to settle for sleeping on the floor of the Olympic village.
Despite this deficiency, his coach, Hadi Rezaeigarkanistressed at the Olympics that “he doesn’t mind lying on the floor or not eating his bow. In any case, he wants to be a champion.”
Morteza Mehrzad, double Olympic champion in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021is determined to achieve a historic golden triplet at Paris 2024.
As the Iranian team continues its path to the podium, all eyes are on this ‘giant’, whose impact on Paralympic sport is as great as his own stature.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Jason Root, a professional writer working with Today Times Live, the premier news website. I specialize in sports writing, covering the biggest stories in the world of athletics. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I provide engaging and informative articles that capture the key elements of any event or issue. My work has been featured on numerous respected websites and publications around the world.
