An Iranian competitor at the Paris Paralympics was forced to sleep on the floor because of his height. Morteza Mehrzadselakjani is a member of Iran’s sitting volleyball team and measures an astonishing 8 feet tall. When competing at the Tokyo Games in 2021, a unique bed was manufactured for him, but Paris officials did not immediately follow suit. However, the volleyball team’s coach acknowledged that Mehrzadselakjani doesn’t object to sleeping on the floor because he is singularly focused on success and has the “mind of a champion.”
The Iranian team has enjoyed significant accomplishments at sitting volleyball, winning seven of the last nine Olympic tournaments. If the team continues its success in Paris, Mehrzadselakjani will win his third consecutive gold medal, having taken gold at Rio in 2016 and again in Tokyo three years ago.
Mehrzadselakjani is the team’s star player, and following an outcry about his treatment, Olympic officials told reporters that a bed will be designed for him for the remainder of the tournament.
Known as the second tallest man in the world, Mr. Mehrzadselakjani was born with a rare medical condition known as gigantism. Also known as pediatric acromegaly and pituitary gigantism, it occurs when the brain’s pituitary gland produces too much of the body’s growth hormone, called somatotropin. A tumor usually causes the pituitary gland’s dysfunction, resulting in excessively large hands and feet, a prominent jaw and forehead, thick fingers and toes, and an oversized head and facial features.
The tumor on the gland continues to grow throughout the affected individual’s life and can cause extensive suffering, including headaches, sleep disorders, and hearing loss.
Records show that history’s tallest people and sufferers of gigantism usually grow to around 8 feet or above. The tallest man ever recorded was American Robert Wadlow, who measured 8 feet 11 inches. Born in Illinois in 1918, he died at just 22, having spent much of his life walking with leg braces and with little feeling in his lower body. The second tallest man in history is also an American and was born in Tennessee in 1867. John Rogan was the fourth of twelve children, and his rapid growth began at age 13. He lived until age 33 but could not stand or walk for most of his life. He was 8 feet and six inches tall.
