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Greg Rutherford's Biography

 
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Who is Greg Rutherford?

Greg Rutherford was born in Milton Keynes on 17 November 1986, the son of a builder and a nurse.

Growing up, Greg Rutherford was good at sports and had a trial with Aston Villa football club.

However, his great speed led him to long-jumping and in 2005, at 18, he became the youngest-ever long jump winner at the AAA Championships.

The following year, he won a European silver medal.

However, the lead-up to the 2008 Olympics was dogged by injury and he came 10th in the Beijing Olympics.

Although he continued to suffer injuries, Greg Rutherford took the gold medal in the London 2012 Olympics, becoming the first Briton in 48 years to win the long jump.

Greg Rutherford went to the Rio 2016 Olympics as the world, European, Commonwealth as well as Olympic champion, however he was unable to achieve back-to-back Olympic golds, taking away the bronze medal instead.

Shortly afterwards he was in the news again, as the BBC announced that Greg Rutherford would be in the celebrity line-up for the next series of Strictly Come Dancing, in which he was paired with Natalie Lowe.

Greg and Natalie regularly improved and got to Blackpool but that was to prove the end of their Strictly journey. They came seventh in the competition.

In 2017, Greg Rutherford's agent Gab Stone was jailed for 18 months for fraud by deception. It had emerged that Stone had fleeced Rutherford of £48,448.
 
In June 2018, Greg Rutherford announced that he would retire from the long jump at the end of the season.

On 11 July 2019, the BBC announced that Greg Rutherford would be one of the contestants on Celebrity Masterchef.

He reached the final of the last four.

In 2021, Greg Rutherford was named in one of the Great Britain bobsleigh squads that will attempt to qualify for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

In October 2023, ITV announced that Greg Rutherford would be one of the celebrities on Dancing on Ice in 2024.

He was paired with Vanessa James. Greg and Vanessa reached the last four, but had to pull out of the final because of an injury to Greg.


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