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Thanks to his awe-inspiring performance at the 2012 London Olympic Games, Greg Rutherford is one of Great Britain’s top athletes. He holds several British records and has won a number of top medals, including a gold medal at the European Junior Championships, a gold and silver medal at the Commonwealth Games, gold and silver at the European Championship, a gold World Championship medal, and a gold and bronze medal at the Olympic Games.
In 2015, he became the first British athlete ever to hold all available outdoor titles – National (British), Continental (European), Commonwealth, Diamond League, World and Olympic – at the same time. As of 2022, Greg holds two British Records in the male Long Jump in 2014 and male Indoor Long Jump in 2016, jumping well over eight metres in both.
Greg has a fascinating career, plus bags of charisma and charm, which makes him the ideal choice for an after-dinner speaker, event host or compere
Contact Great British Speakers today to book Olympic Long Jumper Greg Rutherford for your next event.
Greg Rutherford was from a sporting family that saw his great-grandfather play football for Newcastle United and his grandfather for Arsenal; Greg even had trials for Aston Villa. But he then became passionate about athletics, however, without a big sponsor, he had to drum up support from his community to pursue his sporting dream. It all paid off. Aged just 18, he became the youngest ever AAA Long Jump champion.
Greg has appeared at three summer Olympic games – Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016 – winning two medals along the way. In London 2012, he was part of what was known as ‘Super Saturday’, winning gold alongside Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill. He then aimed to become the first-ever British athlete to win a medal at a summer and winter games by joining the GB bobsleigh squad. However, the team failed to qualify.
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After retiring, but not willing to put his athletic career behind him, Greg Rutherford launched his own online fitness programme in 2017. ‘Take Flight’ is a programme designed for all fitness levels and combines running, resistance and plyometric circuit training to create an effective full-body workout from the comfort of your own home.
In 2021, Greg joined fellow Olympians, boxer Nicola Adams and footballer Kelly Smith, and fitness instructor Mr Motivator in launching the ‘Energy Fit for the Future’ campaign by Smart Energy GB, which aimed at encouraging people to install smart meters in their homes.
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Since stepping into the spotlight, Greg Rutherford has become a popular face in the media on programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing in 2016, Would I Lie To You? (2013), The Great Sport Relief Bake Off (2014), A Question of Sport (2019), The Pilgrimage (2019) and The Million Pound Drop Live (2012). In 2019, Greg won the 14th series of Celebrity Masterchef.
In 2017, Greg Rutherford worked for Eurosport as an analyst for the World Athletics Championship, before working with them again in 2021 for the Tokyo Olympics commentary.
In 2016, Greg Rutherford released Unexpected: The Autobiography, a memoir which reveals the secrets to his remarkable success, plus discussions on issues dominating athletics such as doping, and much else besides. It is honest, passionate and entertaining, and a fascinating read.
He was awarded an MBE in 2013 for services to athletics and a European Athletics Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate of science by the University of Bedfordshire in 2013, a statue in his honour was erected in Milton Keynes in 2014, and a post box was painted gold in honour of his Olympic win.
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Greg Rutherford has worked with a range of internationally well-known brands such as Aquafresh, Debenhams, eBay, Haliborange, McVities and Riverford.
As an Olympic speaker, Greg reflects upon his career as an elite sportsman, describing the skills you need to succeed in the field and how to transfer these to everyday life. He is a popular media star, and combines his high profile with a sensitive and honest approach to speaking, motivating audiences of all sizes to overcome their own challenges.
Greg was brilliant and completely stole the show – not even the brass band and streamer cannons could retain the limelight. His speech was very natural and flowed really well, I appreciate that this is not something that Greg has done before and was somewhat put on the spot however he more than stepped up to the challenge. Greg came across as very humble, funny and gracious. Even our photographer remarked that it was the first time in a very long time that he had seen a celebrity blush when being applauded and that it was very endearing. Greg made time to have his photograph taken and sign every piece of paper that came his way, with anyone who asked; in fact he stayed way beyond the time we had booked him till. He also got involved with all the interactive elements of the event which we really appreciated. Several of the board of directors remarked about how great he came across and he really did make the event for us.
Network Rail
We were very pleased with speech day. Greg gave a great speech and I’m sure the children will remember the phrase “fat don’t fly” for years to come! He was very generous with his time meeting the children, posing for photographs etc. after his speech.
Adelaide, Heath Mount School
A quick email tot hank Greg again for everything he did on 7th November at British Rowing’s training base. SAS couldn’t have been happier and feedback from athletes and staff has been absolutely glowing.
Time, rEvolution
Greg was bloody wonderful! Brought a real energy to the room with his personality and active engagement of the audience. He was a strong end to the day and having him stay to present the awards to the colleagues was a wonderful gesture making that moment even more special for them. A great story, lots of humour and nice anecdotes all told incredibly eloquently and with a great smile! Opened up the room for questions which went down really well, and he definitely won the room over! 50% of the room (at least) were ‘drooling’! Such a gentleman too. He was an absolute pleasure to work with, pre, during and post the event…he even gave one of the team a lift to the station! The post event feedback on Greg’s session has been resoundingly positive. People still talking about it! So a huge personal thanks to him from me – he absolutely made an important conference a very enjoyable and memorable one. Priceless. I would highly recommend Greg to anyone wanting an uplifting close to their conference. Great value for money.
Andy, Greencore Northampton
Greg was superb, such a nice guy, he had a standing ovation when he came in after our intro !! I will definitely use him again if the relevant conference needs someone like that. Top bloke.
Bidford Events