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Paralympian Markus Rehm wants to compete in Olympics

Paralympic long jump champion Markus Rehm wants to meet with the IAAF to discuss his possible participation at this year's Rio Olympics.

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Markus Rehm, the Paralympic long jump champion, is hoping to come to an agreement with the IAAF that will allow him to compete at the Olympic Games in Rio this year.

The German, who wears a prosthetic limb after his right leg was torn off by a boat propeller when he was 14, took gold at London 2012 with a jump of 7.35 metres, over a metre clear of his nearest rival.

Rehm defeated able-bodied rivals at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday with a jump of 8.10m and his personal best of 8.40m is five centimetres further than Greg Rutherford's winning leap at the London Games four years ago.

Under IAAF rules, Rehm has to prove his prosthetic leg does not give him an unfair advantage, and the 27-year-old is seeking a meeting with the governing body to discuss his potential participation in Rio.

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"If my leg was such a big advantage why can no other Paralympic athlete jump the same distances as me?" he said.

"In the world championships the gap between my nearest rival was 1.14 metres and they had the same take-off leg, technique and equipment as me. If it was that easy everyone would be jumping those distances.

"We wrote the IAAF a letter, but we got an answer that they are quite busy.

"I would like to meet with them, face to face, to discuss the possibility of making a good advert for our sport."

Former British long jump record holder Chris Tomlinson has voiced his support for Rehm's cause, but other competitors are less enthusiastic.

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Australia's Fabrice Lapierre finished second behind Rehm in Glasgow and when asked if he thought the German should be allowed to compete in Rio, he replied "No," before storming off.

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