Markus Rehm

Started: He took up athletics at age 20 in Leverkusen, Germany. (Athlete, 09 Aug 2010) Reason: "My first contact with athletics was in 2008. I was at a trade fair when an athlete [German Para sprinter Heinrich Popow] saw me jumping on a trampoline. I had done some athletics when I was younger and he brought me back into it." An official from the TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen club gave him his first running blade. "At the time I was learning to be a prosthetist so I knew how expensive blades were and I refused to accept it but he insisted. He said it was 'an investment for the future'. I will never forget it. That was a life-changing moment." (paralympic.org, 12 Nov 2019; aspetar.com, 01 Sep 2018; taz.de, 08 Sep 2012) Ambition: To win a fourth consecutive gold medal in the long jump at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, and to jump nine metres. (olympics.com, 21 May 2024; swr.de, 29 Dec 2023) Awards: He was nominated for the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award in 2018, 2019, and 2024. (World Para Athletics Instagram profile, 12 Mar 2024) In April 2023 he received a special recognition award at the German Paralympic Media Awards [GPMA] in Berlin, Germany. The award was given for his contribution to inclusion and equality in sport across German society. (Instagram profile, 27 Apr 2023; bg-kliniken.de, 27 Apr 2023) He was named the 2021 German Armed Forces [Bundeswehr] Sportsman of the Year. (dbs-npc.de, 05 Jul 2022) In 2021 he was presented with the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt [Silver Laurel Leaf], the highest sports award in Germany. He also received the award in 2016. (markus-rehm-88.de, 08 Nov 2021, 01 Nov 2016) In November 2020 he was named the inaugural Para Athlete of the Decade [2010-19] by the German Disabled Sports Association [DBS]. (dosb.de, 30 Nov 2020; eurosport.de, 26 Nov 2020) He was Germany's flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (myinfo.rio2016.com, 06 Sep 2016) He was named the 2014 Paralympic Athlete of the Year in Germany. (dbs-npc.de, 29 Nov 2014) Additional Info: MAGIC NINE-METRE MARK Having set a world record jump in the T64 long jump of 8.72m at an event in Rhede, Germany in June 2023, he has set his sights on beating the non-Para long jump world record [8.95m] set by US long jumper Mike Powell in 1991. He even has '9.00m' as a screensaver on his phone as inspiration to hit that mark. "I'm dreaming of this magic mark. 8.95 still stands for Mike Powell. And for me, it's always so far out of reach and slowly we are getting close. [Speaking about his world record jump] My coach [Steffi Nerius] and me, we have seen that the 8.72 wasn't perfect, and right after the first celebration, after the jump, she took me by my hand and showed me how I landed in the pit. There was actually quite some space left that I could have gained. And after that moment I just realised, we could have done even better and it's the motivation for this year [2024] to come closer to these nine metres." (olympics.com, 21 May 2024; paralympic.org, 01 Jan 2024) PARA SNOWBOARDING THOUGHTS He is interested in the possibly of competing in snowboarding at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina. "It's a long way away. First of all, there are the [2024] Paralympics in Paris. We've already looked at where there might be opportunities to get involved [in snowboarding]. It's always good for me to do something different from time to time. But of course the training for the long jump shouldn't suffer as a result. The lightness of snowboarding is always good for me, but at this level the focus has to be on the long jump." (tagesschau.de, 11 Jul 2023) OCCUPATION He works as a prosthetist and orthotist technician with Rahm Zentrum fur Gesundheit, a company in Troisdorf, Germany. "It's not so much for sports, but more for everyday use. It's a great job. I like working with the patients and for me it's great because I have had many years of experience using a prosthetic. When a new patient comes in depressed about a problem, I can say, 'It's okay, I had the same problem once and we can work towards a solution'. I never had to learn much about the job because I have so much personal experience." (LinkedIn profile, 12 Sep 2023; protheofit.de, 01 Jan 2023; aspetar.com, 01 Sep 2018)