Paralympic champion Markus Rehm to face Olympic champion Greg Rutherford in major UK indoor meeting

Germany’s Markus Rehm, gold medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, will face Great Britain’s Olympic champion Greg Rutherford in the long jump at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix in Scotland, Great Britain, on Saturday 20 February.

Rehm, who spectacularly retained his world title with a record-breaking leap of 8.40m at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, Qatar, last year, will face Olympic and world champion Greg Rutherford, who won the IAAF World Championships with a jump of 8.41m in Beijing, China, in August.

The German has previously outlined his ambition to compete against non-disabled athletes more regularly and hit the headlines in 2014 when he won the German able-bodied National Championships with a best of 8.24m.

2015 brought further success for the 27-year-old as he added a further five centimetres on to his world record in May, leaping 8.29m at a meeting in Spain, before going on to clinch a memorable world gold medal in the Middle East.

“I’m very excited to compete at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix. It will be my first time competing in Scotland and I’m looking forward to testing myself against some of the best long jumpers in the world,” said Rehm.

Rehm has competed against Rutherford on one previous occasion in Hengelo, the Netherlands, in June 2014 when Rutherford leapt 8.24m and Rehm managed 7.44m. But the German has improved markedly since then.

He added: “This is a massive year for me with the Paralympic Games in Rio coming up and I think competing against athletes such as Greg Rutherford in Glasgow will be the perfect way for me to start my preparations.”

Rehm will line up against Rutherford in Glasgow in a meeting which also includes double Olympic and world champion Mo Farah and 200 metre world champion Dafne Schippers from the Netherlands.

Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events, said: “Scotland looks forward with great excitement to welcoming the world’s finest athletes at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix and we are delighted that Markus Rehm has confirmed his participation for this prestigious event.

“In this Olympic and Paralympic year, the people of Glasgow are set to witness a compelling day of athletics featuring some of the world’s biggest stars, creating what will be the outstanding indoor meeting of the 2016 calendar.”