With a smile on his face, Markus Rehm ran into the Stade de France to great applause, and with an even broader grin and a bow he finished the competition. The world record holder lived up to his role as favorite in the long jump from the first attempt and won his fifth gold medal at the Paralympics with a distance of 8.13 meters.
In addition, Rehm, who carried the Paralympic torch through Paris on the opening evening, increased the number of gold medals to six from the perspective of the German Disabled Sports Association (DBS).
The 36-year-old, who lost his right leg below the knee at the age of 14 after a wakeboarding accident, achieved his longest career jump to date at 8.72 meters in 2023. Noah Bodelier also attracted attention. Rehm’s club colleague from TSV Bayer Leverkusen came in sixth with 6.98 meters.
Rehm achieved the first top place for a German in athletics, marking the perfect end to a day in which a total of seven medals were awarded. First and foremost, the para-cyclists, including gold medalist Maike Hausberger, and the dressage riders significantly improved the DBS’s record, which had previously fallen short of its own expectations.
Strong in the Palace Park of Versailles
The dressage riders Regine Mispelkamp and Anna-Lena Niehues will also leave Paris with a medal in their luggage – at least one. They could also compete in the team competition.
First, Niehues won the bronze medal with Quimbaya in the individual ranking of starting class IV. “The ride was fantastic,” she said. “I’m overjoyed, everything worked out the way it should.”
A little later, Mispelkamp and Highlander Delight’s even went one better with silver in the V classification. Only Michele George from Belgium was a few percentage points stronger on Best of 8. “It was great fun. But you never know how the horses will react in this atmosphere,” said Mispelkamp. “And he can be a little bit of a firecracker. But he did a great job, he enjoyed it too.” Her teammate Isabell Nowak took fourth place with Siracusa Old.
Not all German players had a successful day at work in the South Paris Arena 4. While Sandra Mikolaschek advanced to the semifinals with her 3-0 win in sets against local hero Flora Vautier and thus secured bronze, Stephanie Grebe was eliminated after a 0-3 defeat against Maliak Aliewa.
“Tired and exhausted”
Swimmer Naomi Maike Schwarz also didn’t win a medal, but was still happy to have reached the final of the 100-meter freestyle. Especially since she was able to improve on her performance in the preliminary round. “I was incredibly tired, drained. It was a tough few days here in Paris and I think I took my strength away from all the tension,” said the 30-year-old. “I just noticed that.”
Source: www.sport.de
