1. Gregory James Rutherford MBE was born on 17 November 1986 and is a retired British track and field athlete who specialised in the long jump.
47 Facts About Greg Rutherford
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Greg Rutherford represented Great Britain at the Olympics, World and European Championships, and England at the Commonwealth Games.
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In September 2021 Rutherford was selected as part of the British bobsleigh team but was injured during preparations to qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
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Greg Rutherford retired from the sport through injury in 2018.
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From 4 September 2015, when his Diamond League victory was confirmed with a fourth event win in Zurich, until his withdrawal from the British Athletics Championships in June 2016, Greg Rutherford held every available elite outdoor title; national, continental, World, Olympic, Diamond League and Commonwealth.
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Greg Rutherford is the current British record holder, both outdoors and indoors, for this event with his personal bests of 8.51m and 8.26m.
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Greg Rutherford was a five time national outdoor Champion and two-time national indoor champion, his main domestic rival being the five-time national outdoor champion Chris Tomlinson.
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Greg Rutherford was widely regarded as the best long jumper in a generation that lacked all-time great jumpers, but his British record placed him in the top 25 long jumpers by distance of all time, and he was highly regarded for his consistency, determination and championship mettle, frequently recording his best jumps when he needed them in championship competition.
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Gregory James Rutherford was born on 17 November 1986 and grew up in Milton Keynes where he attended Two Mile Ash Primary School and went on to Denbigh School.
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Greg Rutherford played several sports as a youth including football, rugby and badminton.
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Greg Rutherford had trials with Premier League football club Aston Villa at the age of 14 before deciding to pursue a career in athletics.
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Greg Rutherford is the great-grandson of footballer Jock Rutherford, who won three Football League First Division titles with Newcastle United and 11 England caps, and is the oldest player ever to have played for Arsenal; his grandfather, John Rutherford, played for Arsenal.
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Greg Rutherford was selected to represent England at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, where he finished 8th.
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Greg Rutherford missed much of the 2007 season due to a succession of injury problems, including an ankle injury for which he had surgery in February of that year.
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Greg Rutherford competed at the 2007 World Championships but did not reach the final, finishing 21st in the qualifying round.
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Greg Rutherford did not compete at the 2010 European Championships due to a foot injury.
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At the 2011 World Championships, Greg Rutherford injured a hamstring during the qualifying round and did not reach the final.
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Greg Rutherford became the second British man to win Olympic gold in the long jump, the first was Lynn Davies in 1964.
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Greg Rutherford's gold was one of three won by British track and field athletes on the evening of 4 August 2012 ; this was the first time that three gold medals had been won by British athletes in the same Olympic athletics session.
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Greg Rutherford parted company with Dan Pfaff, his coach, in early 2013, when Pfaff returned to his native United States.
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In February 2014, Greg Rutherford said he would trial for the winter sports events of bobsleigh and skeleton, in the hope of competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
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In February 2015 Greg Rutherford won the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix with a jump of 8.17m, a new indoor personal best.
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Greg Rutherford's victory made him the fifth British athlete to hold Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles simultaneously, after Daley Thompson, Linford Christie, Sally Gunnell and Jonathan Edwards.
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In February 2016 Greg Rutherford set a new British indoor long jump record of 8.26m in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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Greg Rutherford took the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics with a jump of 8.29m in the final round, behind Jeff Henderson who won gold and Luvo Manyonga who won silver.
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Greg Rutherford expressed his disappointment afterwards at not having retained his Olympic title, describing it as a "bitter pill".
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In July 2017 Greg Rutherford announced that he could not defend his title on home ground at the upcoming World Championships as he had not recovered from an ankle injury sustained the previous month.
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Greg Rutherford subsequently returned to the London Stadium to compete at the 2018 Anniversary Games in July, and made his last appearance in competition at the Great North CityGames in Newcastle in September 2018.
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Greg Rutherford stated that he had been encouraged to take up the sport by double Olympic bobsleigh champion Kaillie Humphries.
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Greg Rutherford trained alongside his new team-mates for the first time the following month.
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Greg Rutherford has appeared in several popular light entertainment television programmes.
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In 2014, Greg Rutherford participated in The Great Sport Relief Bake Off.
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From September 2016, Greg Rutherford was a contestant in the fourteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing where he was partnered with professional Natalie Lowe.
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Greg Rutherford was eliminated in week 9, after a dance-off with Claudia Fragapane.
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In 2017 Greg Rutherford worked for Eurosport as an analyst for the channel's coverage of the World Athletics Championships after he was unable to compete in the event due to injury.
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In 2019, Greg Rutherford won the 14th season of Celebrity MasterChef.
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Greg Rutherford appeared in the BBC Two series Pilgrimage, walking Via Francigena, an ancient pilgrimage route to Rome.
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Greg Rutherford revealed he was brought up as a Jehovah's Witness and was now "non-religious".
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At the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics, held in the summer of 2021 in Tokyo, Greg Rutherford was part of Eurosport and Discovery+'s coverage of the Games as a reporter on the ground in Japan.
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In 2024, Greg Rutherford became a contestant on the sixteenth series of Dancing on Ice.
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Greg Rutherford was paired with Vanessa James and the couple reached the final of the series, however on the day of the final, they were forced to withdraw from the competition after Rutherford tore his abdominal muscles during training and required hospitalisation.
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In July 2024, Greg Rutherford won an episode of The Weakest Link.
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Greg Rutherford was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to athletics.
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Greg Rutherford was given the European Athletics Lifetime Achievement award in October 2018.
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Greg Rutherford has stated that he was brought up as a Jehovah's Witness, but was personally non-religious.
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Greg Rutherford is an avid supporter of Manchester United, and is an Athlete Ambassador for the global sport for development charity Right To Play.
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Greg Rutherford stated that he decided to disclose the fraud to warn other athletes who might be taken advantage of in a similar way.