Greg was born on 17 November 1986 in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. He was educated at the Two Mile Ash Primary School and Denbigh School. Just like several ESAA ‘leavers’, Greg could have moved to a career in football and had trials for Aston Villa FC when aged 14. He was following in a family tradition; his great-grandfather, Jock Rutherford, played for England in 11 matches between 1904 and 1908.
ESAA
Greg had several attempts at winning an ESAA title but amazingly his best place was 4th in the Inter long jump in 2003 and in the Senior long jump of 2004.
Road to the Olympics
Undeterred, a year later he became the youngest winner, at 18 years of age, of the British long jump title.
His unrelenting improvement meant that, when he won the 2015 World Championship, he held every major athletics title at the same time, only the 5th Briton ever to achieve this feat – can you name the other 4?
On ‘Super Saturday’ in 2012, he won his Olympic gold medal in the same session as Jessica Ennis-Hill and Mo Farah won their Olympic titles, the only time Britain has won 3 Olympic titles in one session.
Greg broke the British record and followed up his Olympic title with a bronze medal in 2016.
Medal haul
- 2012 Olympic Games long jump gold, 2016 Olympic Games long jump bronze
- 2015 World Championships long jump gold
- 2014 and 2016 European Championships long jump gold, 2006 European Championships long jump silver
- 2014 Commonwealth Games long jump gold, 2010 Commonwealth Games long jump silver
- 5 national titles
Other awards
- MBE in 2013
- Masterchef Celebrity Champion in 2019
- There is an 8-metre tall “Leaping Man” statue in honour of Greg’s achievements on the A421 Fen Street roundabout in Milton Keynes
