Greg Rutherford completes 'grand slam' of major titles with long jump gold

The 28-year-old produced his best jump of the season in the fourth round to push Australia’s Fabrice Lapierre and home favourite Jianan Wang into second and third.

Rutherford is the fifth Briton, after Daley Thompson, Linford Christie, Sally Gunnell and Jonathan Edwards, to hold all four major titles simultaneously – Olympic, world, European, Commonwealth.

Rutherford had such a bad headache a few hours before the final that he feared he would be unable to compete.

"By 2 o'clock this afternoon, I thought, 'Flipping heck, I'm not going to be able to jump, I feel so rough'," he told reporters.

By the end of the evening, it was Rutherford's rivals whose heads were spinning.

"Adrenalin's a wonderful thing," he said. "Here I am and I've finally won a world title. Fifth time lucky. Finally got what I wanted."

World No 1 Jeff Henderson failed to make the final eight with a best of 7.95m.

Rutherford was criticised by American sprint great Michael Johnson for being too vocal with various "inflammatory” comments in the build-up to the championships. One remark in particular was about the British team kit not featuring the Union flag.

However, after his victory was confirmed, Rutherford retrieved a waistcoat bearing the flag from a fan in the stands, which he sarcastically waved at a camera.

"I'm a bit lost for words. What an incredible night. It's been unreal," Rutherford told BBC Sport.

"It's unbelievable. This was my best ever performance. The stresses this year, I can't even express to you. I can't wait to get home and see my family.

"I think 8.41m is a stadium record. It wasn't as long as the last jump which won the World Championships but I couldn't care less to be honest.

"I could have jumped further."