SPORTS PERFORMANCE
most amazing reception . I performed in front of the most amazing crowd British sport has ever seen that night . It is hard to put it into words , but it will always be one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I will be forever thankful to those people who came along and made it so special ”.
Greg Rutherford has been awarded an MBE , post boxes have been painted gold in his honour and he has jumped further than any British man in history , but the one thing he has really struggled to come to terms with is the 8m high statue of him that looks down from its spot in Milton Keynes . “ I never imagined in a million years that anyone would ever want to make a statue of me . It is very surreal . I still struggle to understand why anyone would want to see it , but I am incredibly grateful – it is bloody amazing ” he says in disbelief .
Looking up at his own statue isn ’ t the only time Rutherford has been stuck for words . At the recent World Championships he saw Homeland actor Damian Lewis and has been getting stick from those who were within ear shot ever since , “ I was with my agent Andrew Steele and we saw Damian just wandering around . He came over and said , ‘ Hey Greg , how are you doing ?’ and I was quite taken aback that he even knew who I was . I shook his hand and said , ‘ Thank you so much for coming to the World Championships , it is so good to have people of your stature here ’ and I still get mocked to this day because apparently it sounded like it was my party that I had invited everyone to ”.
Rutherford is no stranger to being on TV himself either having appeared on the 2016 series of Strictly Come Dancing . He was disillusioned after the 2016 Olympics even though he came home with a Bronze medal , but a few decisions made by officials still don ’ t sit well with him , so the dancing came at the perfect time to take his mind of it all . “ The BBC really play it down , they tell you that you only need to spare 12 hours a week , you just learn the dance and then perform it .
PHOTO CREDIT : MARK SHEARMAN
But , in reality we were practising 10-12 hours a day non-stop . Plus , there was the added stress of not remembering any of the steps before going on TV to perform it in front of 12 million people ” he laughed . “ However , doing Strictly made me realise how much I loved performing and re-sparked my imagination of going out and competing again ”.
And that is precisely what he is doing right now . The trip to Dubai was not to work on his tan so those neglected biceps look golden brown next time he competes , but it was a chance to put in some quality hard work and get his body ready to compete to win on the world stage . “ Yesterday I did two Cleans at 120kgs so I know that I am in good shape . I am getting older , at 31 years old I am older than most and if I can ’ t compete to win anymore then I will have to find something else in life ”.
Rutherford ’ s future has been widely reported in the media before , with talk of switching to the Bobsleigh being predicted as the most prominent option for a man of his physical talents . “ I like the idea of trying another sport and maybe turning professional in it . Jumping smashes your body to pieces so I would be keen to try some other sports that are not so impactful ”.
When quizzed about the potential switch to Bobsleigh Greg openly entertains the idea , “ There has been talk of me trying the Bobsleigh and I would love to try and go to the Winter Olympics if I was good enough , but if my body couldn ’ t cope with Long Jump I would actually love to try another summer sport ”.
With that shock revelation the boy from Bletchley reveals one last secret that has not been discussed before , “ something that I am really interested in , and would like to try sooner rather than later is Velodrome Cycling . The prospect of that interests me a lot especially considering the fact that there is something holding your weight up as apposed to the amount of load I have to deal with in Long Jump ”.
Just like that the triple Olympian , gold medallist and British record holder admitted for the first time that there is more than a strong possibility that he will be gracing the Velodrome some time soon and you heard it here first .
Greg Rutherford ’ s passion for his sport is infectious , his knowledge and understanding of how his body feels and what stimulus it will respond best to at certain times are second to none . He wears his heart on his sleeve and when he explains the disappointment of Beijing , the elation of London and the frustration of Rio you feel like you are in his shoes sharing the experience in real time such is his ability to eloquently recapture those moments as if they were yesterday .
Winning means a lot to him . More than that , winning means everything , and he has not finished yet . There will be plenty more opportunities for him to win within Long Jump and Tokyo 2020 wouldn ’ t be impossible . But don ’ t be surprised if you see him at the Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022 or even on his bike in Paris in 2024 .
134 MUSCLE & FITNESS / APRIL 2018