Tokyo 2020 Olympics – ‘Exhausted’ Greg Rutherford reflects on Team GB’s Magic Monday at Aquatics Centre
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Updated 26/07/2021 at 13:42 GMT
The London 2012 long jump hero had the best seat in the house for Team GB's incredible morning in the Aquatics Centre, watching on as Adam Peaty became the first Brit to defend an Olympic title in the 100m breaststroke event before Tom Daley and Matty Lee pipped China against the odds in the 10-metre platform synchronised diving.
‘I’ve cried twice today!’ – Rutherford reflects on Magic Monday
Greg Rutherford revealed he is “exhausted” following his front-row seat view of ‘Magic Monday’ in the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
The former Olympic long jump champion told Eurosport the tears flowed watching Team GB win two golds in the pool, first through swimmer Adam Peaty and followed by diving pair Tom Daley and Matty Lee.
The joy was amplified by Tom Pidcock’s triumph in the men’s cross country mountain bike event, confirmed just minutes after the diving pair’s victory.
Having just seen Daley and Lee awarded their medals, an ecstatic Rutherford sought to summarise the significance of what he had just witnessed.
“I’m exhausted! Magic Monday… take me back to being an athlete, this is hard work! I’ve cried twice today with the guys in the diving, then Adam as well,” he told the Eurosport studio.
I’ve cheered, I’ve run around where I’m allowed to run around, this is unbelievable!
"This is what the Olympics is all about isn’t it, these are those moments that everybody will remember. I’ve had messages from home talking about how inspired my children are and that’s just unbelievable, it shows what we can do when we showcase sport in the right way."
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Having spoken to members of the Team GB diving team before the event, Rutherford said there was a scent of destiny in the air.
“All of them had a massive sense of chance, they were coming to this Olympic Games as the strongest diving team that GB’s ever managed to put together and the idea was to come here and win medals.
“What we saw today with Matty and Tom was the perfect catalyst for hopefully more to come – it was incredible.
“When you’ve got somebody like Adam Peaty starting up your swimming, you’re in a situation where it’s going to inspire so many people.
“Speaking to other athletes and people on the British Team here…they’re already saying, this is it, this is the start for us, now we feel we can go out there and win plenty more medals. It is an absolutely wonderful day for everybody in Team GB."
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Rutherford believes the jubilant stories of today could serve as a springboard for more Team GB success heading forward in Tokyo, drawing from his own experiences of London 2012.
The 34-year-old won gold in the long jump on what has since been dubbed ‘Super Saturday’, as Jessica Ennis-Hill and Mo Farah added two more either side of Rutherford’s win to make it three athletics gold medals in the space of an hour.
He said: “As soon as you see other people, often your friends, teammates, you just think ‘I want be involved in that, I want a bit of that’ and it just gives you that little bit extra.
“It means when you are out in the track, in the sea, in the pool, wherever it might be, you think of those moments and you draw on those emotions you felt when you watched your friends win.
For me, as I’ve said so many times, Jessica Ennis when she won in 2012 was just before my fourth round jump, and the emotion I felt of watching a friend win an Olympic gold medal…was utterly tremendous and it gave me that extra lift to go out there and push it.
“We’ve got Magic Monday and to witness this live – out of this world.”
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