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In a web exclusive, Linda Haywood interviews Ian Russ, press officer of Marshall Milton Keynes Athletic Club, about the prospects of the young Olympian, Greg Rutherford, and the club itself which will be 123 years old this week.

Greg Rutherford hit the athletics scene in 2005 when he won the senior AAA long jump title – the youngest ever winner at 18 years – and also won European Junior gold with a British Junior record of 8.14m. He was still only 19 when winning silver at the European Championships in 2006. Beijing will be his first Olympics. He trains with Marshall Milton Keynes Athletic Club and recently hit headlines after reaching his qualifying score on the last jump at Birmingham. He has also battled recent family bereavement to go on to compete in the Aviva Olympic trials.

Ian Russ, press officer at Marshall Milton Keynes AC explains that Greg is not just a long jumper: “Greg has been with Marshall Milton Keynes Athletic Club for eight years and as a fourteen year old he clearly had a great natural talent as a sprinter and long jumper. As he developed his long jumping became more dominant than his sprinting and he chose, with the guidance of his coaches to concentrate on this discipline, although he still runs the occasional 100m race.”

Asked about Greg’s prospects, Ian says it is difficult to project the course of the Olympics long jump competition which can see adverse results: “The long jump is one of these events that can be hard to predict especially in a major competition such as the Olympics, it may be won by a massive leap as with Bob Beaman or in a closely contested competition with no particularly spectacular distances.”

So is Britain in for an extra medal this year? “Either way Greg is capable of producing a jump that could easily challenge for a medal, but sport is very unpredictable and as Greg himself would admit first of all he needs to qualify for the final after that anything is possible. However possibly more important than what happens over the next month is London in four years when Greg should be at his physical peak and a “home” gold medal is a real possibility.”

With the 2012 London Olympics ever more present in the mind of British competitors, the role of amateur clubs is increasingly important in supporting elite athletes. Marshall Milton Keynes AC has supported two athletes to Olympic qualification this year: Craig Pickering also trained with MMKAC. He will be competing in the 100m sprint and 4x100m relay in this year’s Olympics. Getting to the Olympics is a team effort involving many people. The Club has over fifty qualified coaches, including four Level 4 Coaches and eight level three coaches, covering most athletic events.

They are, however, are old hands: “We have long history, the Club itself is 123 years old on Monday (3rd August), during which time it has seen many changes and continued to develop and evolve. We have a strong team of coaches which continues to grow as Milton Keynes itself continues to grow and we have always had an emphasis on young athletes and development programmes.”

Ian explains there are some downsides to the great success which MMKAC has seen in its years: “In the past it was common for our athletes to be “poached” by larger clubs with greater financial benefits but in recent years this has declined as more and more of our members are native born to Milton Keynes with the resulting sense of belonging and loyalty.”

Ian is keen to point out that the club believes in organic growth and that sport should be its own reward: “If the Club has a recipe for success it is that we firmly believe in developing our own athletes as opposed to buying in talent and encouraging youngsters that athletics is fun rather than applying pressure to be successful. This philosophy is obviously working with two Olympians this year, Greg and Craig Pickering, and potentially eight for 2012, so watch this space.”

By e-mail.

Greg Rutherford: The Basics

Date of Birth: 17/11/1986
Lives: Milton Keynes
Born: Milton Keynes
Country of Birth: England
Height: 188
Weight: 85
Club: Milton Keynes AC
Coach: Frank Attoh
Occupation: Athlete

Achievements

International Highlights

2005 European U20 gold, 2006 Commonwealth Games 8th, Europeans silver, 2007 Worlds 21st

National Championships

Won AAA 2005-06, U20 2004, U20 indoors 2005

Personal bests

LJ 8.26 (2006), 100m 10.38 (2005)

Indoor: 60m 6.80 (2005)