Greg Rutherford qualifies for long jump final in Beijing
Monday 24 August 2015 11:26, UK
Olympic champion Greg Rutherford has qualified for the final of the long jump at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
The Brit reached the final with a leap of 8.25m, the second longest of the qualifying competition behind American favourite Jeff Henderson's 8.36m.
Rutherford is bidding to emulate his fellow London 2012 'Super Saturday' gold medallists by winning in Beijing after Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill won in the 10,000m and heptathlon, respectively.
A victory would give the 28-year-old the full set of major titles after he won the European and Commonwealth crowns last year.
His team-mate Dan Bramble failed to make the final, recording a best jump of 7.83m.
Britain's defending champion Christine Ohuruogu is through to the 400m final, and looked impressive in winning her heat as she crossed the line in 51.01 seconds. Team-mate Anyika Onuora also went through.
Holly Bradshaw, returning after a potentially career-threatening back injury, qualified for the pole vault final with 4.55m.
Meanwhile, Rutherford said criticism of Katarina Johnson-Thompson was "out of order" after her long jump collapse cost her a heptathlon medal in China.
The 22-year-old produced three no-jumps on Sunday but Rutherford said the speed of the runway made controlling and adjusting timing difficult and backed the Liverpool athlete to come back firing for her individual long jump competition.
"I think what people don't understand is this is an incredibly fast runway," he said.
"Fortunately, I've had all these years of experience now to know what to do and make the small adjustments. Kat's incredibly young and I heard a few comments that were a little bit harsh on her yesterday, which I think is incredibly unfair.
"I reckon if you put a speed gun on people, which we do in training quite a lot, you would be 0.1 or 0.2 of a second quicker out here and that's a massive difference over a runway.
"Kat has the chance to come back out in a few days' time and, believe me, I'm one of her biggest fans and I'm hoping she comes away with a medal."
In spite of his success, Rutherford has had his fair share of critics in the past, with some branding his Olympic triumph a fluke. And he said he would talk to Johnson-Thompson.
"I saw her briefly yesterday and the poor girl was absolutely devastated, I'll be honest," he said. "But she's strong, she's very good, we all know how talented this girl is. I think when she comes out she'll know what to do, get a safe jump in, get to that final and do something special.
"She's come into this with people saying, 'You're going to win a medal, you're probably going to win this championships'. For a young girl, that's a hell of a lot of stress.
"Even at my age in London, I didn't 100 per cent deal with that pressure well, I managed to grind out a half decent result, but if I'd have been 21 in the same position, I probably would have buckled.
"I think if people have got something to say and they genuinely want to help, wait until after the championships, because it's not right to do that.
"If she had gone out there and jumped six metres and hit the board perfectly every time because she was being too cautious and too scared, she would have got absolutely annihilated for that.
"She wanted to win a gold medal, we should never forget that. She didn't come out here to foul three times, she came out here to try and win a gold medal, it's not easy."
