Markus Rehm

Markus Rehm (born 22 August 1988 in Göppingen, West Germany) is a German Paralympic athlete, and in the long jump has won four Paralympic, six world and five European titles. He began in sports at age 20 and became a long jump F44 world champion in 2011. His club is TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen and he is a medical specialist. Rehm is nicknamed "The Blade Jumper", as he is a long jumper with a blade-type leg prosthesis. Rehm's right leg was amputated below the knee after a wakeboarding accident. He uses a carbon-fibre bladed prosthesis, from which he jumps off. On winning he stated "I think it was the perfect jump today."

2014 German championships Rehm won the 2014 German Athletics Championships in long jump, with a jump of . However many able-bodied longjumpers protested that he had an unfair advantage due to his blade. His national title was upheld.

2015 German championships Rehm again placed first in the long jump at the 2015 German Athletics Championships. However, his results still do not count towards winning the championship, as the German Federation has ruled that the prosthetics cannot be ruled out as providing an unfair advantage. He finished on top with a jump of .

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships At the 2015 Doha World Championship, Rehm set a world IPC disability record in the long jump, at . at the IAAF meant that he needed to qualify his prosthesis with the IAAF to prove that it did not provide an advantage over able-bodied athletes. However, the IAAF ruled that Germany failed to prove its case, and denied Rehm permission to participate at the Rio Olympics.

2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics Rehm competed in the long jump T43/T44 and 4 × 100 m relay T42–47 and won both events, jumping 8.21 m in the final. He served as the flag bearer for Germany at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Parade of Nations.

2017 World Athletics Championships Rehm will again attempt to qualify for an IAAF-sanctioned able-bodied competition, the London 2017 World Championships in Athletics. Following the 2016 Paralympics.

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