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Introduction
On 30 May 2016, Markus Rehm (MR), the outstanding Paralympic long jumper whose personal best would have won gold at the London Olympics, 1 announced his desire to participate in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games to the world's media. Critically, MR, who is a unilateral below-knee amputee, uses a long jump-specific prosthesis (LJSP) and he supported his case for inclusion using results of a scientific study in which he participated. 2
According to the IAAF rules, the use of a mechanical aid is not permitted unless the athlete can establish that 'on the balance of probabilities', its use would not provide an overall competitive advantage over an athlete not using such an aid. 3 On 17 June the IAAF President stated: "…at this stage he [MR] has not been able to do that [prove no advantage]". 4
At the time of writing the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) had not expanded on their announcement. However, given the importance of MR's case for athletics stakeholders and for sport in general, the scientific report should be analysed to determine what its findings contribute to the case. Here we outline the reasons we believe the report did not support MR's case and describe ways in which future research can facilitate a satisfactory resolution.
The research report did not address the legal question posed
MR's inclusion required evidence addressing the question: 'Does MR's prosthesis provide him with a competitive advantage?' The study in which MR participated compared the biomechanics of 3 amputee jumpers who used a LJSP-including MR-with 7 non-disabled jumpers (NDJs) who did not. The groups were matched for experience and best officially recorded jump. The fundamental question...