Tokyo 2020- Greg Rutherford and Andy Murray call for more mixed events following the introduction of the mixed 4x400m

ByAlice Reeves Turner

Published 31/07/2021 at 17:54 GMT

Olympic gold medallists Greg Rutherford and Andy Murray believe that the inclusion of mixed events at the Games is the way to go in order to help sport grow. Rutherford shared his thoughts with Eurosport's Tokyo Today while Murray tweeted out a call for the introduction of more mixed events.

London 2012 Olympic gold medallist Greg Rutherford believes that mixed events are the way to go if athletics is to grow in the world of sport.

The two-time Olympian - in Japan for Eurosport - was in the stadium for the 4x400m mixed relay, which has made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

Speaking on Tokyo Today, Rutherford said that despite being disappointed by the position Team GB finished in, he was excited to see how the introduction of the event progressed the sport

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USA mixed relay 4x400

Image credit: Getty Images

“It is always interesting when new things are added to the Olympic Games, because you never know what the response is going to be," said Rutherford. "Are the athletes going to buy in? Are the crowds going to buy in? No crowds here, so that's pretty easy, but does everybody at home? And so far it seems that it's been brilliant.

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“Everybody likes that there's a few changes going on, and that's really important.

We want to see this sport grow and see this sport keep going to a new level, I think things like the mixed 4x4 is most certainly the way to go.

Rutherford was not alone in his love for the introduction of the category; he has been joined in his support of mixed events by tennis legend Andy Murray - a former silver medallist in the mixed doubles alongside Laura Robson.

The two-time Olympic gold medallist, and three-time Grand Slam winner, even started a poll in order to encourage the introduction of a mixed golfing event.

He wrote: “How good are mixed events in sport?

They are a huge asset and so many sports miss a trick not supporting/promoting them more.

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