World’s tallest athlete Morteza Mehrzad towers over Tokyo

He competes sitting down but this Iran giant — who at 246cm is the world’s second tallest man — has the world standing up and taking notice.

Iran is on track for back-to-back gold medals in the men’s sitting volleyball at the Paralympics and it’s easy to see why.

The middle-eastern nation has dominated the sport for decades — winning six of the past eight gold medals in the men’s game — but it’s team has become even more unbeatable since the arrival of 2.46m colossus Morteza Mehrzad.

The 33-year-old is the second tallest man alive and quite comfortably the tallest Paralympian in history.

In a sport where players with a variety of ailments sit down and try to get the ball over a net that’s roughly 1.15m off the floor, it’s a piece of cake for Mehrzad.

Iran will meet the sport’s other powerhouse Bosnia Herzegovina in the semi-finals on Thursday night in a rematch of the gold medal game in Rio four years ago.

Mehrzad was the difference on that occasion after becoming involved in the sport when Iran’s coach Hadi Rezaeigarkani got in contact after seeing him on a TV program about physical disorders.

Even sitting down, when he raises his right arm it reaches a height of 1.93m — his maximum effort for a block.

When spiking — the term used to describe a forceful attacking shot to get the ball over the net — he can get his dominant hand up to 2.3m in the air. You have to pity the poor folks on the other side of the net whose job it is to try and return any of Mehrzadselakjani’s serves.

Morteza Mehrzad blocks Wescley Conceicao de Oliveira during Iran’s pool game against Brazil. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images)

He can get his hand more than two metres in the hand while sitting down. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images)

After taking up the sport nine years ago, he made his international debut in 2016 and immediately started winning awards. He’s only improved, continuing to dominate at the Paralympics.

While these all seem like reasons to walk around with a permanent smile on your face, it isn’t all good news for the Iranian superstar.

He suffers from acromegaly, which is a medical condition that arises from the brain’s pituitary gland producing too much growth hormone after the body’s growth plates have closed. By the age of 16 he was already over 1.9m tall.

But people rarely get to see him standing to attention. He seriously injured his pelvis in a bike accident as a teenager, meaning he now spends significant amounts of time either on crutches or in a wheelchair.

Mehrzad uses crutches as his teammates prepare to walk in the parade of athletes during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images for International Paralympic Committee)

Serving up success. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP)

His right leg has stopped growing, and it is about 15cm shorter than his left. The sad reality is that as much joy as he’s bringing his teammates and his country in Tokyo at the moment, his height does not bode well for his long term future.

“His health is not going well. His health is currently declining because he’s getting taller. I think he’s still growing,” said Ali Dahestani. “The first time we saw him he could walk better but now he has to walk with crutches.”

Despite that, now is the time to focus on the positives. Iran has won six gold medals and two silvers across the past eight Paralympics, and with Mehrzad’s help, they look every chance of heading back home from these Games with some more bling around their necks.