UNITED KINGDOM: LONDON OLYMPICS 2012 - ATHLETICS - Greg Rutherford still buzzing from Britains Super Saturday

Record ID: 837410

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: LONDON OLYMPICS 2012 - ATHLETICS - Greg Rutherford still buzzing from Britains Super Saturday
  • Date: 6th August 2012
  • Summary: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 6, 2012) (REUTERS) INTERIOR OF NIKE MEDIA LOUNGE SIGN READING "GAME ON WORLD" BELOW NIKE TICK VARIOUS MANNEQUINS WEARING NIKE APPAREL OLYMPIC MEN'S LONG JUMP CHAMPION GREG RUTHERFORD BEING INTERVIEWED RUTHERFORD'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) OLYMPIC LONG JUMP CHAMPION GREG RUTHERFORD SAYING: "I think it'd come down to the fact when the last person jumped before me, I actually knew I was now Olympic champion and the stadium just went crazy. They had just gone mad for Jess (Ennis), and they went mad for me and obviously a little bit later they went mad for Mo (Farah). That sense of everybody being so excited and happy for me was absolutely brilliant, I loved it. I put my hands up in the air, a little bit of a fist pump and everyone went crazy. That's something I don't think I'll ever forget." MANNEQUIN WEARING NIKE APPAREL (SOUNDBITE) (English) OLYMPIC LONG JUMP CHAMPION GREG RUTHERFORD SAYING: "I think a hell of a lot further. Technically, I was jumping very, very poorly the other night again. Probably all this year there has probably been some bad things I really need to sort out. It takes a long time. I was jumping a different way for years and years and years and we've tried to change it all this year. It's not a quick fix at all. But again, I'll have another winter now to figure it out and hopefully I can come back and I aim to get myself to be one of the greatest long jumpers of all time. I think the top ten, you have to jump around 8.65 (metres) ish and I definitely think that's well within my region of success. So that's going to be the aim, getting there in the next couple of years and winning a few more major medals." PEOPLE CHATTING INSIDE NIKE MEDIA LOUNGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) OLYMPIC LONG JUMP CHAMPION GREG RUTHERFORD SAYING: "I think that will be even more intense over the next sort of four years probably, until the next Olympics. Because until then I'll be classed as Olympic champion and I aim to be Olympic champion again then. So I think I'm going to be the one who most people will be gunning for. But that's how I like it. I like people coming after me, makes it a bit more exciting." RUTHERFORD HOLDING HIS GOLD MEDAL
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2012 13:00
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  • Location: United Kingdom
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  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAAOC7K8RI9B834UB0YMOBQXH46
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  • Story Text: It has been a chaotic 48 hours for Greg Rutherford but Britain's Olympic long jump champion is still buzzing and enjoying the ride after being part of the host nation's three gold medals in track and field at the London Games on Saturday (August 4).
    Rutherford leaped 8.31 metres to become the first Briton since 1964 to win the event.
    His triumph had followed Jessica Ennis' victory in the women's heptathlon and was followed by a stirring 10,000 metres win for Mo Farah as the host celebrated their most successive ever day in Olympic track and field competition.
    Rutherford has spent the time since conducting a throng of media interviews with everyone keen to get a word with one of the men of the moment.
    In an interview, Rutherford said the gold medal jump still has not really sunk in but the moment he realised he had won still rings in his head.
    "I think it'd come down to the fact when the last person jumped before me, I actually knew I was now Olympic champion and the stadium just went crazy," Rutherford told Reuters on Monday (August 6).
    "They had just gone mad for Jess (Ennis), and they went mad for me and obviously a little bit later they went mad for Mo (Farah)."
    "That sense of everybody being so excited and happy for me was absolutely brilliant, I loved it. I put my hands up in the air, a little bit of a fist pump and everyone went crazy. That's something I don't think I'll ever forget."
    Earlier this year, Rutherford remodeled action, based on a technique used by the nine-time Olympic medallist Carl Lewis.
    He said it had been crucial to his success and he hoped it would mean him breaking the British record he holds jointly with Chris Tomlinson of 8.35m with bigger and beater distances now the goal.
    "I think a hell of a lot further," Rutherford said when asked about how far he thought he could jump.
    "Technically, I was jumping very, very poorly the other night again. Probably all this year there has probably been some bad things I really need to sort out. It takes a long time.
    "I was jumping a different way for years and years and years and we've tried to change it all this year. It's not a quick fix at all. But again, I'll have another winter now to figure it out and hopefully I can come back and I aim to get myself to be one of the greatest long jumpers of all time," he said.
    "I think the top ten, you have to jump around 8.65 (metres) ish and I definitely think that's well within my region of success.
    "So that's going to be the aim, getting there in the next couple of years and winning a few more major medals," he added.
    Rutherford accepted he would now be a marked man but his desire for more success and ultimately a second Olympic crown in Rio di Janiero in 2016 was now the ultimate aim.
    "I think that will be even more intense over the next sort of four years probably, until the next Olympics," Rutherford said of the scrutiny he was bound to face as Olympic champion.
    "Because until then I'll be classed as Olympic champion and I aim to be Olympic champion again then.
    "So I think I'm going to be the one who most people will be gunning for.
    "But that's how I like it. I like people coming after me, makes it a bit more exciting."
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