OlympicTalk · Apr 19, 2016
Amputee long jumper hopes science will clear him for Olympics
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Paralympic long jump champion Markus Rehm hopes a scientific study will clear him to compete at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro by finding that he has no unfair advantage over able-bodied athletes by using his carbon-fiber prosthesis.
Rehm is hoping to compete both at the Olympics in August and at the following Paralympics. To become eligible under international rules, Rehm has to prove that his prosthesis gives him no advantage over athletes with a similar disability or non-amputee long jumpers.
Rehm could become the second athlete with a carbon-fiber prosthesis to compete in the Olympics and the Paralympics after South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius in 2012.