Markus Rehm is one of the best long jumpers and favourite to succeed him in Paris.
Markus Rehm is the undisputed master of the long jump. At 36, the three-time Paralympic champion in the T64 category is also a five-time world and European champion in the discipline. Having had his right leg amputated below the knee following a boating accident at the age of 14, the German discovered the long jump and began performing at international level in 2011, at the age of 23.
World champion for the first time in 2011 in the T44 classification, Markus Rehm has dominated his discipline for 13 years. During his first Paralympic championship title in 2012 in London, he broke the world record in the long jump with a mark of 7.35m, before becoming the first to exceed the eight-metre mark in 2014. German able-bodied champion in 2014, he is the first para athlete to win an able-bodied athletics title. Marcus Rehm was tempted in 2016 and 2021 to participate in the Olympic Games after having achieved the required minimums, but his request was ultimately rejected, the IOC considering that his prosthesis could give him an advantage. The German also participated in the 4x100m Paralympic with his national team in 2012 and 2016, winning a bronze medal and then a gold medal. Having since focused solely on the long jump, the German has never been beaten in his flagship discipline in international competition.
Last year, Markus Rehm broke his world record again, reaching 8.72m. And the supreme mark among able-bodied people, which has been at 8.95m since Mike Powell in 1991, does not scare him. “I dream of this magic record. 8.95m is still Mike Powell’s record. It seems so far away and yet I am getting closer to it little by little,” said the German. “Yes, that is my goal.”