They came, they saw, they conquered…….this best describes the exploits of some of Track and Field’s best exports who shone like a thousand stars in 2015, ending the year on a high after winning global titles at the 15th World Championships amongst other achievements.
Every single athlete included in this list recreated a piece of history en-route the path to glory. As such, it was quite dicey trying to make our pick of the Top 10 deserving athletes. Here is Part 1 of this series which features Nos. 10 – 6!
10. GREG RUTHERFORD
The British National Record holder (8.51m) came to the World Championships with a daunting CV as reigning Olympic, European and Commonwealth champion. As such, 2015 was just the perfect year for the 29-year old to add the last pending laurel to his kitty – the world title.
He achieved this feat by producing the second best jump of his life, 8.41m, to take GOLD at the Bird’s Nest Stadium, an astounding feat considering that the Long jumper’s day had started on a wrong footing:
“I woke up with a horrible headache; I was feeling a bit rough. I had to go and see the doctor and take a load of paracetamol and hope for the best. By 2pm, I didn’t think I’d jump — I felt that bad — but adrenaline is an incredible thing and I turned it around”, Rutherford said.
He went on to win the Diamond Race Trophy a few weeks later, making him the first British athlete EVER to hold all available outdoor titles – National, European, Commonwealth, Olympic, World and Diamond League titles – at the same time. Rutherford was also crowned European Athlete of the Year alongside Dutch sprinter, Dafne Schippers.
