Morteza Mehrzadselakjani (born 17 September 1987) is an Iranian volleyball player who plays in the national sitting volleyball team of and Mes Shahr Babak. With a height of 247 cm, he is known as the tallest living man in Iran and the second tallest living man in the world. He was able to win two gold medals and the Golden Ball for the best player in the world in 2022 at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. He is part of the

Iran men's national sitting volleyball team The Iran men's national sitting volleyball team represents Islamic Republic of Iran in international sitting volleyball competitions and friendly matches. The team is one of the dominant forces in on the court worldwide. In foreign media, team I ...

. He has

acromegaly Acromegaly is a disorder that results from excess growth hormone (GH) after the growth plates have closed. The initial symptom is typically enlargement of the hands and feet. There may also be an enlargement of the forehead, jaw, and nose. Other ...

, and has won the Gold medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, 2018 Sitting Volleyball World Championship and

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

and 2022 Sitting Volleyball World Championship in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

with

. At club level he played for Samen Al Hojjaj

Sabzevar Sabzevar ( fa, سبزوار ), previously known as Beyhagh (also spelled "Beihagh"; fa, بيهق), is a city and capital of Sabzevar County, in Razavi Khorasan Province, approximately west of the provincial capital Mashhad, in northeastern I ...

in 2015.

Biography

Mehrzad was born with a rare medical condition called

which is triggered by excessive growth hormone production in the brain's pituitary gland. He was measured over 6 feet and 2 inches at the age of 16. When he was 15 he had a bicycle accident which caused a serious

pelvic fracture A pelvic fracture is a break of the bony structure of the pelvis. This includes any break of the sacrum, hip bones (ischium, pubis, ilium), or tailbone. Symptoms include pain, particularly with movement. Complications may include internal ble ...

. The accident stopped his right leg from growing, leaving it about 15 centimeters shorter than his left leg. He started to feel depressed after the accident. He started using a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

crutch A crutch is a mobility aid that transfers weight from the legs to the upper body. It is often used by people who cannot use their legs to support their weight, for reasons ranging from short-term injuries to lifelong disabilities. History Crutc ...

es and a

walking stick A walking stick or walking cane is a device used primarily to aid walking, provide postural stability or support, or assist in maintaining a good posture. Some designs also serve as a fashion accessory, or are used for self-defense. Walking sti ...

following the accident.

Career

His talent was spotted and identified by Iran national head coach

Hadi Rezaei Hadi Rezaeigarkani (born December 10, 1960) is an Iranian sitting volleyball coach, and former player with world and Paralympic medals, currently as the head coach of Iran's men's sitting volleyball team. He was born in Mashhad, Iran. Paralympic ...

in 2011 after watching a television program which talked about unusual and differently able talented people. Hadi quickly got in touch with the television network to inquire about Mehrzad who was also one of the disabled talents to have participated in the program. Hadi convinced and encouraged Mehrzad to play sitting volleyball. He was selected for Iran's national team in March 2016 after undergoing training sessions at various regional clubs in Iran and made his international debut in 2016 at the Paralympics qualifiers. Subsequently, he was also selected for the national team to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, which marked his Paralympic debut. In the 2016 Summer Paralympics sitting volleyball final, he was the match top scorer with 28 points for Iran. Iran eventually secured a gold medal after defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina 3–1 in the final. He was also the second best spiker during the 2016 Rio Paralympics. In 2018, he helped Iran win the 2018 Sitting Volleyball World Championship, securing Iran's first world title in 8 years, after a 3–0 victory over defending champions Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final. In the 2022 Summer Paralympics sitting volleyball, Mehrzad won his second Gold Medal at the Paralympic Games after defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 in the semi-final and Russia 3–1 in the final with Iran's national team. In 2022, he won his second Sitting Volleyball World Championship with Iran's national team in the 2022 Sitting Volleyball World Championship, after a 3–0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mehrzad, Morteza 1987 births Living people Volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic competitors for Iran Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Iran Iranian sitting volleyball players Men's sitting volleyball players People with acromegaly Sportspeople from Mazandaran province Paralympic medalists in volleyball Paralympic volleyball players of Iran People with gigantism Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics

Biography

Career

See also

References

External links