London 2012 Olympics: Greg Rutherford’s leap of faith secures a stunning gold

Jessica Ennis lived up to her

billing as Britain’s golden girl with a commanding victory in the heptathlon before Rutherford leapt to a stunning victory in the long jump.

In fact, Rutherford’s winning leap of 8.31 metres came at precisely the same time as Ennis was being introduced to a rapturous crowd of 80,000 in the Olympic Stadium before her final event, the 800m.

Rutherford, who headed the world rankings in 2012, took the lead in the second round with a jump of 8.21m and was never overtaken, the 25-year-old from Milton Keynes then jumping 8.31m in the fourth round to extend his lead.

Australia’s Mitchell Watt (8.16m) took silver and American Will Claye (8.12m) bronze, while Rutherford’s British team-mate Chris Tomlinson (8.07m) had to settle for sixth.

Lynn Davies had been the only British man to have won an Olympic medal in the long jump, taking gold in Tokyo in 1964, but Rutherford had been confident he could deliver.

He equalled Tomlinson’s British record of 8.35m in May and said last week: “All I know is that my big jumps were earlier this year and I should be able to add some decent centimetres to that, and that means everyone needs to beat me. There are probably seven or eight of us who could do some damage. You expect people to raise their game but I expect to be one of them.”

Meanwhile, Denise Lewis hailed a “truly remarkable” performance from Ennis.

“She’s been outstanding,” said Lewis, Olympic heptathlon champion for Great Britain 12 years ago in Sydney.

“She’s been remarkable. People love her, they really do.

“I’m so proud to have witnessed this, it’s truly remarkable.”