German long jumper Markus Rehm has smashed his own world record to take gold at the World Paralympic Championships. Rehm is hoping to be allowed to compete at next summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Amputee long jumper Markus Rehm jumped 8.40 meters at the Championships in Qatar on Friday, bettering his previous record by 11 centimeters. This was also just one centimeter short of the distance jumped by Britain's Greg Rutherford, who won gold at the World Championships in Beijing in August.
"I woke up feeling that it was going to be my day. Thankfully it all worked out for me," Rehm told the AFP news agency afterwards.
Earlier in the week, the 27-year-old Rehm had told AFP that he was aiming to come as close as possible to Rutherford's winning distance in China.
"Of course I am looking to the world championships. Of course it's different conditions and everything is different, but, yeah, I compare myself to other athletes," he said.
Still hoping for Rio:
Friday's performance in Doha could lead to further calls for Rehm, who competes on a prosthetic right leg, to be allowed to compete internationally against able-bodied athletes, possibly even at the Olympics in Rio next summer.
The German athletics association has ruled that the prosthetic, similar to that worn by sprinter Oscar Pistorius at the 2012 London Games, gives Rehm an unfair advantage over able-bodied competitors.
The International Association of Athletics Federations is expected to rule soon on whether he would be eligible to compete in Rio.