Athletes

Markus Rehm

Germany Para athletics 22 August 1988

Goppingen, Germany

Markus Rehm of Germany competes in the Men's Long Jump T44 Finalat the London 2017 World Para Athletics Championships.

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Biography

Human Interest
Data	Value
Impairment Information
Type of Impairment	Limb deficiency
Origin of Impairment	Acquired
Classification	T64, F64
Further Personal Information
Residence	Leverkusen, GER
Occupation	Athlete, Technician
Languages	German, English
Sport Specific Information
When and where did you begin this sport?	He took up athletics at age 20 in Leverkusen, Germany.
Why this sport?	"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."
Club / Team	TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Germany
Name of coach	Steffi Nerius [club], GER
International Debut
Year	2009
Competing for	Germany
General Interest
Nicknames	Blade Jumper (bbc.co.uk, 20 Feb 2016)
Hobbies	Wakeboarding. (markus-rehm-88.de, 2018)
Memorable sporting achievement	Winning a total of three gold medals at the Paralympic Games in 2012 and 2016. (Athlete, 17 Jul 2017)
Most influential person in career	Coach Steffi Nerius. (Athlete, 17 Jul 2017)
Injuries	He suffered from a knee injury in 2015, taking two months to recover. (tagesspiegel.de, 24 Jul 2015; aspetar.com, 01 Sep 2018) In April 2013 he broke his arm during training. He needed an operation, during which a screw was surgically inserted. Two weeks later he was competing again. (aspetar.com, 01 Sep 2018)
Sporting philosophy / motto	"There is no 'I can't'." (Instagram profile, 05 Mar 2020)
Awards and honours	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 a member of the 4x100m relay squad that was named the Team of the Year in both 2016 and 2017 by the National Paralympic Committee of Germany. (der-querschnitt.de, 28 Nov 2017; paralympic.org, 29 Nov 2016) In 2016 he was presented with the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt [Silver Laurel Leaf], the highest sports award in Germany. (markus-rehm-88.de, 01 Nov 2016) 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 2015 Paralympic Athlete of the Year at the Felix Awards, the sports awards for state North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. (markus-rehm-88.de, 11 Dec 2015; mkffi.nrw, 11 Dec 2015) He was named the 2014 Paralympic Athlete of the Year in Germany. (dbs-npc.de, 29 Nov 2014)
Other sports	He has competed in able-bodied athletics at international level, winning gold in long jump at the 2016 Indoor Grand Prix in Glasgow, Scotland. He also finished second at the German junior wakeboarding championships in 2005. (markus-rehm-88.de, 16 Mar 2020; SportsDeskOnline, 20 Jun 2017; theguardian.com, 21 Feb 2016)
Ambitions	To win gold at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (Facebook page, 28 Feb 2020)
Impairment	His right leg was amputated below the knee following a wakeboarding accident at age 14. (Athlete, 17 Jul 2017; Facebook page, 14 Jun 2017)
Other information	OLYMPIC ASPIRATION He hoped to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro but was unable to prove that he would not have gained an advantage due to his running blade. "For me it's not that I would be more happy to compete in the Olympics than the Paralympics, I'm obviously a Paralympic athlete and I'm proud of it. But it would still be great to compete at the Olympics because I would like to use this stage to promote the Paralympic Games. I think it always has to be Olympic and Paralympic Games, but I would like to connect them. This would be great and would show that we are united. This is my dream for the future. But what I want to avoid at all costs, is that this discussion becomes too important." (kyodonews.net, 28 Aug 2019; bbc.co.uk, 26 Aug 2019; tagesspiegel.de, 13 Nov 2019) OCCUPATION He works as a prosthetist and orthotist technician with Rahm Zentrum fur Gesundheit GmbH 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." (protheofit.de, 01 Jan 2021; LinkedIn profile, 01 Jan 2020; aspetar.com, 01 Sep 2018)

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