The Olympics kicked off on 26th July in Paris (Image: British Athletics via Getty Images)Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxMore Newsletters SubscribePlease enter a valid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.More NewslettersWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More infoThank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow me See OurPrivacy Notice See OurPrivacy Notice×Group 28 Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxInvalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.Sign UpNo thanks, closeWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info×Group 28Thank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow MeNo thanks, closeSee our
Privacy NoticeNow that Wimbledon and the Euros are done and dusted, the next big event in the sporting calendar will be the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, which kicked off yesterday [26th July]. Before the Games kicked off, we caught up with two of Team GB’s athletes who are going for gold — high jumper Morgan Lake and middle-distance runner Jake Wightman — as well as Greg Rutherford, who memorably clinched a long jump gold medal at London 2012 on Super Saturday. The three sports stars are part of a cast of Olympians and athletics legends featured in the first episode of Channel 4 documentary Path To Paris: The Hunt For Gold . The programme follows the athletes as they prepare for the huge challenge that is the Olympic Games and offers a behind-the-scenes look at everything from training sessions, to their home lives and relationships with their respective coaches. Morgan, 27, is one of Britain’s high hopes for the Games — she won silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and placed fourth at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She was once coached by her father, former triple jump champion Eldon. And Jake, 30, who took home 1500m gold at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, shares something in common with Morgan — his dad is his coach, something he admits becomes “harder with age”. While Greg, 37, who retired from athletics in 2018, appears in the documentary to offer his wise words to the competitors, advising, “don’t do anything weird or exotic”. They tell us all about their paths to Paris…
Greg is an Olympic Gold medal winning athlete
(Image: Getty Images)
Greg Rutherford Hi, Greg! What advice would you give to this year’s crop of Olympians? It’s a really simple one, but it’s very important because a lot don’t do it, and that is, don’t change anything. I remember my first Olympics in 2008. All the training changed, we added new things in and that didn’t end well for me. Trying to change things in the last two or three weeks before can only end in disaster. It’s about maintaining that training load and that thought process you’ve had to get there, that is what’s going to lead you through. So don’t do anything weird and exotic all of a sudden, just because you’re going to the Olympics. Maintain what you’re doing, stick with the process and give yourself the best opportunity to succeed. So will you be heading over to Paris to watch the Olympic Games? I’ll be there from 31 July to 12 August, so I’ll get to see it all and cheer all these guys on. It’s so exciting and it’s going to be very special. How did you feel about retiring from the sport? Were you sad to call it a day? It’s always a funny thing because you retire and everybody’s very much like, “He’s really missing it” but the amount of aches, pains, and everything else that I had towards the end of my career, you don’t really want that side any more. And fundamentally, I achieved way more than I ever expected to, I felt that I had my time. I look at these athletes now and I can’t really put my body in that position any more.
He’s retired now and a family man now
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
How did it feel when you won your London 2012 Olympic gold medal? I wasn’t expected to become an Olympic champion but I couldn’t have timed it any better. When you win a medal, it’s not just for you, it’s for everybody involved. You have this overriding feeling of relief, and you feel slightly guilty by feeling it — I had always been the maybe guy and suddenly I was an Olympic champion and you just exhale thinking “finally”. There’s always a medal or two that nobody ever expected and that was me in London. Would you take part in another TV show after your stint in Dancing On Ice ? I love a challenge, I just don’t always want it to end in surgery and I’m scared of spiders! Maybe a remake of Pilgrimage , but there are always things coming up. What about a cooking show with your daughter? I thought of the idea of evolving the show that me and my daughter, Daphne, do on social media called Eggies . Maybe a book or something. Did you enjoy being a partof the documentary, Path To Paris: The Hunt For Gold ? It was brilliant to be involved as a former athlete, talking about the careers of some of our great athletes in the British track team. It’s great to be in and around anything that promotes track and field because it never gets the coverage it should. It was also nice to just talk about the Olympics and not having to train for it any more — my body most certainly couldn’t take that load any more.
Morgan is competing for team GB
(Image: British Athletics via Getty Images)
Morgan Lake Hi, Morgan! How are you feeling? Nervous, excited… It’s so close now, this year has flown by! I’m ready — I want to get to the holding camp and soak up those Olympic vibes. The atmosphere’s electric. As it’s all different sports, it’s very different to what we do any other years’ — the athletics competition is the same girls, same event, so it’s a bit more special. Hopefully my friends and family will be there, and those who can’t will be watching on TV. There’s been so much support back home. What was it like being a part of the documentary Path To Paris: The Hunt For Gold ? I thought the cameras following me around might get intrusive, but it’s actually been amazing to have them documenting everything, and to have other athletes who are Lottery-funded be part of it, too. It’s a unique opportunity to have the year-long run-up to the Olympics documented. Does time go by in a blur? Sometimes you feel like you don’t have time to sit back and appreciate the journey. Whereas the documentary allows athletes and viewers to get a sense of what it takes to get there. We often watch sport on TV, see the event and the result and that’s it — but that’s not the whole story. Hopefully it shows a more personal side too, as my family appears in it. Does training take its toll emotionally as well as physically? There are definitely highs and lows, good days and bad days off the track. You have your goals coming into an Olympics and occasionally things can derail that — injury being the main thing, but also self-doubt. Sometimes you go to competitions, you’re super-excited then it pours with rain! It’s things out of your control that are the toughest. But knowing the end goal is the Olympic Games? That gets me through every tough training session and every wobble.
Her dad was an athletic champion
(Image: British Athletics via Getty Images)
Your dad, Eldon, was an athlete in his youth too, wasn’t he? Yes, and my coach up until I was about 18. He got me into the sport and he’s probably my biggest inspiration. He’s had a lot of health complications, but he’s always bounced back. Dad travelled with me to Rio, which was amazing, but due to Covid nobody could come to Tokyo, which was hard. I video-called my family, who had all these banners around the house. They were like, “It feels like we’re there with you!” You’re only 27—do you miss going out with friends, or clubbing? Yes, when I’m in training and I meet with friends for dinner, they might say they’re off out for a cocktail or two afterwards and I have to say, “OK, I’m going home!” It feels like there’s another world out there which looks like fun! Come September, I can chill and live the normal life of a twenty-something. That makes it easier to be so hyper-focused now. What are your other passions? I study psychology at uni, so I kind of love learning about the human brain and why we do what we do. But yes, that’s also very intense — otherwise, it’s very normal things, like watching back-to-back Gilmore Girls and Gossip Girl ! Other Olympians have gone on to do reality shows. Would you? I’d love to do that eventually — something completely different. I always wanted to be on Dancing On Ice actually, having watched Jade Johnson the long jumper appear on it when I was a kid. I love I’m A Celebrity… but I’d see one spider and freak out!
Jake is competing in middle-distance running
(Image: Getty Images)
Jake Wightman Hi, Jake! How are you feeling ahead of the Olympics? I’m optimistic. I’m thankful I’ve been given an opportunity to race in the 800m. Before Tokyo, I was obsessed that it was the Olympics but now it’s about relaxing and not letting the occasion seem too big. Your dad Geoff is your coach. How do you find that? It’s tougher to manage because I think when I was young I was good at following orders from him. The older I’ve got, I’ve made my own way through the sport, learnt my own things and have my own opinions, and as a result, I challenge him a lot more.
His dad is his coach
(Image: DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
How do you switch off from the sport? It’s just about hanging out with people and speaking about anything but running. When I get home I don’t like to be surrounded by it and my girlfriend who runs, is in the same boat. It’s a job. You turned 30 this month, were you able to have a party? For an athlete, it’s the worst time to have a birthday so I rarely get to celebrate them. I travelled back down from my physio and had a 6am drug test, which is bleak for your birthday. Will you celebrate the big 3-0 later? I have a twin brother so we’re going to do a joint thing in September, hire a venue and have as many people as possible, so it’ll be good — I can look forward to that and it makes it more enjoyable waiting. Greg, Morgan and Jake feature as part of the documentary, Path To Paris: The Hunt For Gold, supported by The National Lottery, which is available on 4OD
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it.
Learn more
Discovery+
Discovery+ is the new home of the Olympics
Discovery+ is the new home of the Olympics. The streamer is set to broadcast 3,800 hours of sport live from Paris. Sports fans can get Discovery+ for £3.99 a month until the end of 2024 via Amazon Prime’s video channels. This also comes with an Amazon Prime 30-day free trial.
£3.99
Discovery+
Watch here
Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnDancing On IceGilmore GirlsGossip GirlDocumentaryGreg RutherfordOlympics
