Iranian sitting volleyball participant Morteza Mehrzadselakjan received’t let somewhat discomfort come between himself and a possible gold medal on the 2024 Paralympics.
The athlete, 36, who at 8 ft 1 inch is the second-tallest man on the planet and the tallest Paralympic athlete in historical past, doesn’t match into the beds at Paris’ Olympic Village. However he’s making do with a easy resolution.
The crew’s head coach, Hadi Rezaeigarkani, advised Olympics.com on Friday, August 30, “He’s going to lie on the ground.”
In response to the coach, previous Video games have made particular lodging for Mehrzadselakjan, however this yr he’s out of luck. “In Tokyo [2020], sure, they’ve made a particular mattress, however sadly not right here [at Paris 2024],” Rezaeigarkani defined.
The 2024 Paris Olympics have created a number of picture-perfect moments since kicking off on July 26. Maybe essentially the most viral snap got here throughout the third spherical of the boys’s browsing competitors on July 29. After finishing a barrel trip in Teahupo’o, Tahiti, Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina soared within the air and pointed his finger towards the […]
Nevertheless, the coach added that this inconvenience isn’t getting his star participant down.
“He doesn’t have a particular mattress, however he has obtained crucial goal in his thoughts. It doesn’t matter for him whether or not he’ll lay on the ground or he’s not going to have sufficient to eat. In any method, he has the thoughts to develop into a champion.”
Paris marks Mehrzadselakjani’s third Paralympics look. He scored gold along with his crew at 2016’s Rio and 2020’s Tokyo Video games and is hoping for a three-peat in Paris.
Mehrzadselakjani, who has acromegaly — a uncommon situation inflicting extra progress hormone — suffered a damaged pelvis throughout a bicycle accident as a teen which triggered his proper leg to cease rising, making it shorter than his left.
He joined the Iranian sitting volleyball crew in 2015 when he was found by the coach by way of an look on a actuality TV present. Now, he says he’s turning “limitations into alternatives.”
As Paris passes the torch to Los Angeles because the host of the 2028 Summer time Olympics, the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) has already adjusted the occasion schedule. In 2023, the IOC accepted proposals for 5 new sports activities on the 2028 Olympics, a few of which — together with lacrosse and cricket — haven’t been seen on the […]
“I’ve at all times been known as the ‘tall boy’ even earlier than becoming a member of the nationwide crew or the Paralympic Video games,” he advised AFP on August 27 previous to the beginning of the Video games on August 28. “Enjoying sitting volleyball helped me lots. The physique that I as soon as thought of as very dangerous has helped me on this sport, and I might make good use of it.”
Iran has participated within the sitting volleyball Paralympic Video games since 1988, profitable a exceptional seven out of 9 occasions. Mehrzadselakjani is a vital asset to the present lineup, incomes him the nickname “the Deadly Weapon” in his nation.
Whereas Mehrzadselakjani is happy with his accomplishments with the crew, he’s fast to notice that his teammates deserve simply as a lot credit score as he does.
“I admire being known as the very best within the sport, however I’m not,” he mentioned. “Every of our guys is the very best … and we make the very best crew on the planet.”
