Paralympics star: “My life changed when I took up sport”
(To Quoc) - As the tallest athlete at the Paralympics, sitting volleyball player Morteza Mehrzadselakjani is seen as a “seed” at the 2016 Paralympic Games for athletes with disabilities.
Morteza Mehrzadselakjani is the tallest athlete at the 2016 Paralympics and also the tallest athlete at the 2016 Games for athletes with disabilities. He is the tallest person in Iran. His presence towers over those around him and stood out at the opening ceremony when the Iranian delegation paraded in the Maracana Stadium a week ago. And that has made him a “star” of volleyball.
| Morteza Mehrzadselakjani – aka Mehrzad – stands noticeably taller than the other athletes |
From the city of Chalus on the Caspian coast, Mehrzad was diagnosed with acromegaly – a condition characterised by enlargement of some parts of the body under the influence of growth hormone, which is produced by the pituitary gland in excess as a result of a tumour. The condition occurs in adults and is shown by enlargement of the ears, nose, legs and hands. Patients also suffer severe headaches and disorders of reproductive and sexual function. Like many Paralympic athletes, he overcame his own obstacles and used a wheelchair after a serious injury when he was 15. The injury damaged his right leg and stopped it developing. His right leg is shorter than his left and makes walking difficult. Before that, Mehrzad was also “shy” about his oversized height, and a hormonal disorder that changed the structure of his facial bones meant he rarely left his home.
This man’s truly “enormous” height is 2.46m. The Iranian sitting volleyball team nurtured Mehrzad for about five years so that he can now take on formidable opponents such as hosts Brazil, Egypt, Germany and the USA in the journey to win the gold medal.
Mehrzad took up sitting volleyball five years ago when his coach saw him on TV and spotted his potential in terms of height. After playing for several clubs, he was named in the national team in March this year. Taller than his team-mates, Mehrzad truly shone, with his arms reaching 6 feet from a sitting position. In a sport for people with disabilities who move by sitting and sliding along the floor, using their hands to pass and spike the ball, Mehrzad’s superior height clearly makes a difference.
But life has not been easy at all. “I was lonely and tired; my life really changed when I started playing sitting volleyball and became a Paralympic athlete”, he said on Iranian television about his own growing up.
As the world’s number one sitting volleyball player with a disability, Mehrzad won the gold medal at Rio after Iran’s silver medal in London four years ago (the team has consistently won gold or silver at the previous seven Paralympics).
“We are giving Mehrzad hope and, of course, Mehrzad has really wanted this for a long time”, Mehrzad’s coach, Hadi Rezaei, said.
Muhammad Ali Dahestani, who built Mehrzad’s image on the disability sports show in Iran, told the Daily Telegraph: “Mehrzad has had a difficult life and gone through pressure before he found sitting volleyball. He told me about the problems he went through. He was lonely. Since taking up sport, his life seems to have changed”.
“However, his health is not good. Because of his height, his health has declined seriously. I think he will grow even taller. At first, we saw that he could walk, but now Mehrzad has to rely on crutches. People with this condition will not live long”, Mehrzad said.
“But he has won. Because of his height, he does not have to move much. Mehrzad only uses his long arms to receive the ball”.
This year, Mehrzad surpassed himself and was named “Best Spiker” at the 2016 Intercontinental Cup in Anji, China. He helped the team win 3-0 in the opening match against China – Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(According to the Telegraph)
Hong Nhung