Markus Rehm calls the International Sports Arbitration Court in Lausanne (Cas) to assert his right to start at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The three-time Paralympics winner in the long jump, who lost his right lower leg in an accident as a teenager and wears a prosthesis, jumped 8.62 meters with it this year, exceeding the qualification norm for the Summer Games by forty centimeters.

Michael Reinsch

Correspondent for sports in Berlin.

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The German Athletics Association (DLV) proposed him to the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) for nomination for participation in the games in a separate evaluation, pointing out that the association did not exhaust its quota in the men's long jump. According to Rehm's lawyer Michael Lehner in his lawsuit, the DOSB reported "as far as we know" Rehm to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as a member of the German Olympic team.

The IOC informed the DLV on July 6th that, according to World Athletics, Rehm was not allowed to start.

The association relies on rule 6.3.4, according to which the prosthesis is a mechanical aid.

The athlete must therefore prove that this does not give him any advantage.

The CAS described this rule as “unlawful and invalid” in the ruling in the Blake Leeper case last autumn.

It is not the athlete's responsibility, but the association that provides evidence.

"I'm interested in the message"

According to the complaint, Rehm calls for unrestricted access to the long jump competition; as an alternative, admission out of competition or in a separate evaluation is required. Formally, he demands the suspension of the implementation of the decision to exclude him from the Olympic Games. According to the lawsuit, an athlete who, despite his “disability”, achieves the qualification standard that applies to everyone, cannot simply be called a disabled athlete and assigned to the Paralympic Games alone. He asks the DOSB and DLV to confirm his nomination.

Two weeks ago, Rehm told the FAZ: “I'm interested in the message.

I am not fighting for medals, I am fighting for the idea of ​​diversity, diversity, inclusion in sport. ”The prosthesis is not a mechanical aid in the sense of the rule, but necessary and indispensable.

Five years ago, Rehm was the subject of a study in which scientists from Cologne, Tokyo and Boulder (Colorado) found that an advantage of his carbon prosthesis could not be proven, especially since it caused Rehm to start up more slowly than a non-disabled person.

Lehner refers to this investigation in his lawsuit.

The Cas ad hoc division for the Tokyo Olympics refused to deal with the case on Friday.

The dispute began before the ten-day period before the games.

Therefore, the Cas should decide.