TALKING ABOUT DEDICATION?
Morteza Mehrzadselakjani, the world’s second-tallest man and two-time Paralympic champion, didn’t mind sleeping on the floor as long as he had his eyes on the goal—to win the 2024 Paralympic games in the sitting volleyball category.
“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 added.
Despite the lack of a custom-made bed fit for someone of his stature, the Iranian athlete, known as Fatal Weapon in his home country, remained unbothered as his eyes gleamed with determination on the task at hand: winning.
“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,” his coach said.
Mehrzad, who stands 8-foot-1-inch and is also known as the tallest Paralympian in history made his Paralympic debut in 2016.
They clinched the gold medal in the Tokyo Games for the sitting volleyball category and had a special bed constructed for him.
Similarly, his team also bagged the top spot in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.
The 36-year-old Iranian athlete has a “rare” but “serious” condition called Acromegaly that happens “when you have too much growth hormone in your body.”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, it affects the body’s bones and tissues and causes them to grow irregularly.
Mehrzad condition involves his right leg, which is now about six inches shorter than his left leg.