German long jump champ left off team over possible prosthetic advantage

The amputee long jumper who won the German nationals last weekend has been excluded from his country’s team for the upcoming European Championships, as national sports officials said his carbon-fiber prosthesis could give him an unfair advantage.

Markus Rehm, 25, became the first amputee athlete to become a German national champion when he won the long jump on Sunday with a jump of 27 feet and one-half inch. It was the fifth-best European performance all year.

Rehm told German television Thursday that he would not appeal the German athletics federation’s ruling, which was announced a day earlier. He said he had made the decision out of respect for other athletes, and because he wanted to avoid causing confusion and to “remain fair.”

German Federation president Clemens Prokop explained Wednesday's decision, saying there is "significant doubt" that jumps with a prosthesis and with a natural joint are comparable. Prokop said biometric measurements showed that Rehm's prosthesis might give him an unfair “catapult effect” that allows him longer jumps.

Other experts and Rehm himself have questioned the measuring method.

The 2012 Paralympic champion, whose right leg was amputated below the knee, had previously said he was considering fighting the decision.

“It’s very unfortunate. I still have to process the news,” he said Wednesday, adding that he would solicit advice from his team before deciding how to proceed.

International athletic competitions like the European Championships explicitly prohibit the use of any technology or device suspected of giving its user an unfair advantage.

South African double-amputee runner Oscar Pistorius, who has the same type of prosthesis as Rehm, had to go to court to become eligible for the 2012 London Olympics.

Biomechanics researcher Gert-Peter Bruggerman told the German sports news agency SID that Rehm would also have a “good chance” of winning an appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“No advantage [relating to the use of a prosthesis] has been demonstrated seriously. I regret that such decisions are based on speculation. It does not do justice to para-athletes,” he said.

Wire services