Volleyball
Two-time Paralympic champion forced to sleep on floor at 2024 Games because he can’t fit on Olympic Village bed
Morteza Mehrzad (center) / Photo: © picture alliance / Contributor / picture alliance / Gettyimages.ru
Iranian Paralympian sitting volleyball player Morteza Mehrzad is forced to sleep on the floor of his room in the Olympic Village because he is too tall to fit on a bed.
Mehrzad is a two-time Paralympic champion in volleyball. The athlete’s height is 2 meters 46 centimeters. The reason for such a gigantic height of Mehrzad is a rare congenital disease acromegaly. Morteza also suffered a serious pelvic fracture when he was 15 years old, which is why his right leg is 15 cm shorter than his left.
“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 doesn’t eat. In any case, he has the intention to become a champion,” RMC Sport quotes the head coach of the Iranian team, Hadi Rezaigarkani, as saying.
Mehrzad did not receive an individual bed, as he did at the previous Games in Tokyo 2020, so he has to sleep on the floor.
Source: Sportbox
Alberta Robinson is a sports journalist and author, who is currently associated with the publication Sportish, where she writes about sports related news and events. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, Robinson brings in-depth analysis and insightful commentary to her writing.