World’s second-tallest man forced to sleep on floor at Paralympics

Iran's Morteza Mehrzad stands 8-foot-1, which is too big the beds supplied in Paris

Published Sep 03, 2024  •  2 minute read

Iran's Morteza Mehrzadselakjani (centre) and his teammates listen to their national anthem. Getty Images

While there are some advantages to being one of the tallest people in the world, you can’t help but feel sorry for Morteza Mehrzad.

Article content

The Iranian, who stands 8-foot-1 and is the second-tallest person in the world, doesn’t have the comforts of home while staying in Paris for the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

Mehrzad, who is competing for Iran in the sitting volleyball tournament, has to sleep on the floor because the beds in the athletes’ village aren’t big enough to accommodate him.

The 36-year-old was born with a rare medical condition called acromegaly which causes excess growth. He stands just two inches shorter than Sultan Kosen of Turkey.

Mehrzad is a two-time Paralympic champion in sitting volleyball and is looking to add a third gold medal in Paris — even with sleeping conditions not measuring up.

According to his team’s coach, this wasn’t the case at previous Games.

Article content

Article content

Iran’s head coach Hadi Rezaei told Olympics.com: “In Tokyo, yes, they have made a special bed, but unfortunately not here.

“He’s going to lie on the floor.”

While the arrangements obviously are far from ideal, the coach insists his star player is focused on bringing home the gold medal.

“He has got the most important aim in his mind,” Rezaei said.

“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. Morteza can be considered the best player on our team.

“As a matter of fact, if you go back to Morteza when he was 12 years old, no one had any consideration for him, but when he became a sitting volleyball player, everyone, all around the world know him and respect him.

“I would like to give you one sentence: I believe that each person has got potential in the world and we have to discover it.”

Recommended from Editorial

1. 

   Italian transgender runner Valentina Petrillo fails to reach 400m final at Paralympics

2. 

   Joey Chestnut sets hot dog-eating record in Netflix showdown with Takeru Kobayashi

This is not the first complaint about the athletes’ village in Paris. During the Olympics earlier this summer, athletes decried — among other things — the cramped quarters, the beds made out of cardboard a lack of essential supplies like toilet paper and the poor quality of food.

Swimming champion Ariarne Titmus went as far as to say that the athletes were “living in filth.”

Article content

During an appearance on Australian TV show The Project, Titmus said: “The village isn’t as glamorous as people think. My bathroom in my apartment was bigger than the living room for the four of us. 

“Our bedsheets got changed after the first night we were there and then they didn’t get changed for the rest of the time we were there so we were living in filth. 

“We had to lie about being roommates so we could get toilet rolls. You’d run out of toilet paper and they’d give you one (roll) for four days for the entire apartment.” 

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

Check out our sports section for the latest news and analysis.

Article content