OLYMPICS LONDON 2012: Ruthless Rutherford leaps to gold

By Ben Burrows, Sportsbeat, London 2012

GREG Rutherford claimed an extraordinary London 2012 gold medal after his fourth round jump of 8.31 metres was good enough to win the Olympic long jump title.

FLYING GOLD: Greg Rutherford superbly leaped to the top of the podium in front of a capacity crowd at the Olympic Stadium

The 25-year-old, who qualified fourth for the final, produced a stunning leap to beat Mitchell Watt of Australia into second place.

Rutherford’s triumph gives Great Britain its first long jump gold medal since 1964 when Lynn ‘The Leap’ Davies won in Tokyo and he found it hard to put his achievement into words.

“That is the most amazing feeling in the world,” he said. “Four years ago I had a terrible time and I couldn’t cope very well in the final.

“I knew I was in great shape. I have the most amazing parents you could possibly have and a beautiful girlfriend – I’ve got a pretty good life I’m not going to lie. I can’t tell you how much everybody has worked so hard for me.

“It’s been a long process and to be honest I thought I was going to jump further than that but I don’t care I’m Olympic champion who cares.

“Lynn was an incredible guy and I’m glad I can emulate somebody like that what a night for British athletics – three gold medals out of a possible three.

“It’s incredible I can’t thank everybody at home enough and the crowd were absolutely incredible and I’m so fortunate I got to see my folks in the crowd.

“I don’t think it has sunk in properly yet this is what I’ve dreamt of my entire life. I knew I was going to be a sportsman and then when I picked athletics I knew I wanted to be an Olympic champion and I get to do it in London I don’t know how to describe this – I might wake up in a minute.”

Milton Keynes-born Rutherford followed Jessica Ennis to become an Olympic champion in a golden twenty minutes for Team GB before Mo Farah secured Britain’s first-ever 10,000m Olympic title on a historic and memorable night inside the Olympic Stadium.

© Sportsbeat 2012