LONDON: Britain’s Greg Rutherford who won Olympic long jump gold on ‘Super Saturday’ at the 2012 Olympics in London will retire at the end of the season he announced.
The 31-year-old — who won gold on the same night as fellow Britons Jessica Ennis-Hill and Mo Farah won gold in the heptathlon and the 10,000 metres respectively and followed three other British golds that day — told The Guardian a persistent pain in his ankle had forced his decision.
Rutherford — the first British man to win Olympic long jump gold since Lynn Davies in 1964 — hopes to have one last championship hurrah in winning a third European crown in Berlin in August before drawing the curtain on his stellar 13-year career.
“As an athlete you often have pain, whether it’s training niggles or serious injuries, but with my ankle it is like having a dull toothache all the time,” he said.“I just don’t want to be in pain every single day of my life, which is how things currently are.
“At times I am in so much pain I can’t even sit on the floor and play with my two kids.”Rutherford, who took bronze in the 2016 Olympics, said he didn’t wish to just carry on for the sake of it trading on his past successes.
Nikola Bartunkova in action in this undated photo.— Profimedia/File LONDON: Last year’s Wimbledon girls’...
Pakistan’s Hamza Khan celebrates after beating Yusuf Sheikh of England to lift the U-15 British Open Junior...
An undated image of the Pakistan Cricket Board Headquarters building in Lahore. — AFP/File LAHORE: The Pakistan...
Austria's Dominic Thiem reacts during his first round match against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime.—...
Pakistan hockey players seen in this undated photo. — AFP/FileISLAMABAD: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and...
Pakistan player tackles New Zealand players in a match during 30th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, May 10, 2024. —...