Paris 2024 Paralympics | They will give us chills: Markus Rehm

Markus Rehm, also known as “Blade Jumper” specializes in the long jump. He has been dominating this event for over a decade with his impressive track record: seven world titles, three Olympic titles and a world record of 8.72 m, in 2023 in the T64 category. With this performance, he is only 23 cm short of the able-bodied World record of Mike Powell of 8.95m established in 1991.

In 2003, at the age of 14, Markus Rehm’s life was turned upside down. He injured himself while wakeboarding and his right leg had to be amputated under the knee. At first, he had a really hard time dealing with this. Little by little, he got back into sports to see what he could do with his prothesis.

Coincidentally, at the same time, he met fellow German athlete, Heinrich Popow. This meeting was life changing and shortly after he started the process to obtain a sport prothesis. Since then, he hasn’t stopped beating world records, competing alongside able-bodied champions.

A meteoric rise from Markus Rehm

In 2014, during the German championships, Markus Rehm became the first Para athlete to win a national title with able-bodied athletes, jumping 8.24m. Two years later he hoped to take part in the Rio Olympics of 2016 to shine a light on Paralympic sports. However, his application was rejected because of his prosthesis, which, according to a report from different universities, could give him an unfair advantage over his competitors. This did not stop him from taking part in the Paralympic games and winning two medals.

After that, he kept adding to his track record. In 2021, in Poland, at the European Paralympic games, the German left his mark on his sport: he improved his world record (in T64) by 14 centimeters, jumping 8.62 m. This was a double exploit: only 14 Olympic athletes have jumped further than him, and on top of that his mark is superior to that of the latest 6 Olympic champions.