Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Paralympics
Alex Brotherton
Fans can't believe where the world's second tallest man is being forced to sleep during the Paralympics.
Given the wide range of sports that take place at the Olympics and Paralympics, it's no surprise that athletes come in all different shapes and sizes.
You'd think that organisers would be able to cater to everybody's needs, but that doesn't appear to be the case.
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Morteza Mehrzadselakjani - better known as Mehrzad - is a member of Iran's sitting volleyball team at the Paralympics, and he also happens to be the second tallest man in the world.
The 36-year-old stands at a staggering 8 feet 0.85 inches, just short of the world's tallest man Sultan Kosen who is 8 feet 2.82 inches.
Like most competitors at the Paralympics, Mehrzad is staying in the athletes' village in Paris. However, unlike his peers, he isn't sleeping in a bed.
The volleyball star was given a custom bed at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago, but for some reason that isn't the case in Paris. Instead, he is sleeping on the floor as the standard beds are far too small for him.
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The team’s head coach Hadi Rezaeigarkani told Olympics.com. "In Tokyo, yes, they have made a special bed, but unfortunately not here. He's going to lie on the floor.
“He doesn’t have a special bed, but he has got the most important aim in his mind.
![Morteza Mehrzadselakjani and his Iran teammates. [Getty]](https://images.ladbible.com/resize?type=webp&quality=70&width=3840&fit=contain&gravity=auto&url=https://images.ladbiblegroup.com/v3/assets/blta90d05ad41a54a71/blt8009a151fbb921ef/66d47d1267d71e73da358fac/GettyImages-2167971936.jpg)
"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.”
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Mehrzad, a two-time Paralympic gold medalist, was born with a rare medical condition called acromegaly. It causes excess growth and saw him reach 6 feet before turning 16.
The 36-year-old suffered a severe pelvic fracture when he was 15 that resulted in his right leg being 15 centimetres shorter than his left.
Mehrzad will be aiming to help Iran win an eighth men's sitting volleyball tournament in the last ten Paralympics.
Coach Rezaeigarkani discovered Mehrzad by chance when he appeared on a reality TV show in 2011.
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SPORTbible has contacted Paris 2024 for comment.