Top 55 Greg Rutherford Quotes

There are not many people around the world who can say, ‘I get paid to jump into a sandpit.’

I wasn’t jumping like Carl Lewis, but I still won an Olympic title.

I train six days a week.

I now have five major titles, and not many athletes can say that.

There’s definitely football in the blood, but my body made my decision for me that I was going to be an Olympic athlete instead.

It’s very hard to win anything in athletics.

As a jumper, I try to defy gravity as long as I can. But no matter how far I jump, I’ll always hit the earth eventually.

I’m a very keen baker; I pride myself on my cakes. I go along the classic sponge line, but I like to jazz it up: I’ve made some psychedelic birthday cakes.

I do a lot of things like running hills and larger amounts of reps in the gym.

Fruit is carb-based, and I limit carbs when training hard.

I’ve never had a car sponsor or all the things that most others seemed to have had.

It’s quite funny because I always talk to baby through Susie’s belly, and every time I start speaking, I just get kicked in the face.

I want to jump far all the time and go out there and win medals.

I do weights three or four times a week, and it has had an incredible impact on my confidence.

Even though arguably I could have done much better at school, I’d decided at a young age that I was going to be a professional sportsman at some sport. And at that stage, there was a bit of luck: I was fortunate to meet the right people at the right time to get me to where I am now.

My grandfather died before I was born, so I never had the chance to speak with him about his father. But I learned about him from books.

I was quite lucky: although my dad worked a lot, whenever he was free, he would play sports with me and my brother, and I can’t wait to do that with my child.

I want to become double Olympic champion, triple Olympic champion, five-time world medallist.

When I chose athletics, I knew I wanted to be Olympic champion, and now I have done it in London.

If other people have problems with my competitions, then there’s nothing I can do.

Ultimately, you’ve got to answer your critics on the track, and I am very much hoping 8.41m is acceptable for people.

People forget that track and field is one of the hardest sports because we compete against all the world. There are many sports when you are up against only 15 or 20 countries.

Ultimately the clothing company is a large investment on my part, and I’m taking a huge gamble. But having a focus away from the track is good for you.

It would be pretty special if I could win two Olympic gold medals, one at the Summer Games and one from the Winters, so I’m going to give it a real go.

It was when my American coach Dan Pfaff came over from the States in 2009 and started working with me that we really began to look at my diet. He decided I was eating too many carbohydrates, so I cut back on bread. Over the next year I lost weight and became leaner.

It’s changed from one-hit wonder to ‘Greg Rutherford wins events.’ That’s what I’ve always wanted, that level of recognition.

I have been in discussions with the BBC regarding my involvement with SPOTY after hearing what I believe to be very outdated and derogatory comments from a fellow SPOTY nominee.

Me and my brother just used to fight all the time; then my sister came along, and it was all about the little girl in the house. We’d always eat dinner together as a family.

If the room falls silent for a moment, all I hear is white noise.

The DNA showed I have a level of endurance in me which I never really realised, which makes sense.

The type of IBS I am prone to is the constipation type, where I get trapped wind and can get sharp painful spasms in my intestines as well as having sluggish bowels.

I take my three dogs for long walks every day, and I use that time to talk myself through winning every major competition.

For a long time, I thought I’d be a physio if I wasn’t a sportsman. At one point, I wanted to be an inventor, and I’d come up with little schemes.

Running up a steep hill or up steps are fantastic ways of building explosive strength.

I have a real passion for anything medieval, which is why I love the drama series ‘Game Of Thrones.’

I think the first time baby recognises me and smiles is going to be one of the most amazing times of my life, to be honest.

I dabbled in football myself until the age of 14, but I didn’t have as much love for the sport as I did track and field. I would never have been good enough to take it to the highest level.

I drive relatively fast – within the remits of the law, obviously – but I struggle with people who do stupid things on the road. I have a massive urge to shout expletives at them.

All I can do is turn up and compete.

If I win the Olympics in Rio, then I’ll have each title in double.

I eat a lot of vegetables and salad. I put strawberries, pomegranate seeds, blackberries, and blueberries into shakes and add Greek yoghurt for a snack. I have this when I’m not training.

Ultimately, I love the sport; I love doing what I do.

My entire life, I’ve been searching for acceptance.

I come into these competitions to win, not to get silver or bronze, so it is frustrating.

It will be good fun finding out what sport baby’s good at; perhaps it will be something obscure. My parents were fantastic at taking me to training sessions and letting me try lots of different sports, so I want to do the same.

I haven’t actually checked my family tree, but Rutherford is a very old Scottish name, so I’ve probably got Scottish genes a few generations back.

I seem to be the ‘luckiest’ athlete around – and that’s one of the most frustrating things. You compete against a vast array of people and train your whole life for those moments.

I live in a beautiful village in the middle of the countryside, and being able to disappear off on my bike for a couple of hours two or three times a week is a wonderful way to relax.

I always start the day with a protein shake: protein powder mixed with water, peanut butter, and yoghurt to thicken it up.

Being in a scenario where you’re thinking, ‘I can’t do what I want to do due to the financial burden that comes with some of it,’ makes you think, ‘Well, I could go and do an after-dinner speech every night.’ I’d probably earn more than I could in track-and-field. But that’s a dangerous scenario to get yourself into.

Lolo Jones came up to me and said, ‘Well done, Greg,’ and I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to her in my life.

Adrenaline is an incredible thing.

During your career, you put yourself in peak physical condition, but then you bear the brunt of it for the rest of your life.

To put up with me, you have to be patient.

I’ve not received any major sponsorship deals or anything else.