8-Foot Paralympian Sleeps on Floor as Olympic Village Beds Fall Short

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Iranian sitting volleyball player Morteza Mehrzadselakjan is not letting a little discomfort stand between him and a potential gold medal at the 2024 Paralympics.

At 36 years old and standing 8 feet 1 inch tall, Mehrzadselakjan is the second-tallest man in the world and the tallest athlete in Paralympic history. The beds at the Paris Olympic Village aren’t long enough to fit him, but he has found a simple solution.

“He’s going to lie on the floor,” the team’s head coach, Hadi Rezaeigarkani, told Olympics.com on Friday, August 30.

In previous Games, special accommodations were made for Mehrzadselakjan, but this year, such arrangements are not available. “In Tokyo [2020], they made a special bed, but unfortunately, not here [at Paris 2024],” Rezaeigarkani explained.

However, the coach stressed that this inconvenience hasn’t shaken Mehrzadselakjan’s focus.

“He doesn’t have a special bed, but he has the most important goal in his mind. It doesn’t matter to him whether he sleeps on the floor or goes without enough to eat. In any case, he is determined to become a champion.”

Paris marks Mehrzadselakjan’s third Paralympic appearance. He led his team to gold in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 and is aiming for a third consecutive title in Paris.

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Mehrzadselakjan has acromegaly, a rare condition that causes excess growth hormone. As a teenager, he suffered a broken pelvis in a bicycle accident, which caused his right leg to stop growing, leaving it shorter than his left.

He was discovered by the Iranian sitting volleyball coach after appearing on a reality TV show and joined the national team in 2015. Now, he sees his unique challenges as opportunities.

“I was always called the ‘tall boy,’ even before joining the national team or the Paralympics,” he told AFP on August 27, ahead of the Games’ start on August 28. “Playing sitting volleyball has helped me a lot. The physique I once thought was a disadvantage has turned into a strength in this sport, and I’ve learned to use it well.”

Iran has competed in Paralympic sitting volleyball since 1988, winning seven out of nine tournaments. Mehrzadselakjan, a key player on the current team, is known in his country as “the Fatal Weapon.”

While proud of his achievements, Mehrzadselakjan is quick to share credit with his teammates.

“I appreciate being called the best in the game, but I’m not,” he said. “Each of our guys is the best, and together, we make the best team in the world.”