Weightlifting, mountains and his dogs: Five things Greg Rutherford can't live without

1. WEIGHTLIFTING

I started lifting weights five years ago and the difference it has made to my performance is phenomenal.

People assume that you need to run fast to get to optimum fitness but the truth is endurance lifting makes you stronger and leaner.

I do weights three or four times a week and it has had an incredible impact on my confidence.

It has given me a real belief in my strength which is invaluable for an athlete.

2. HISTORY CHANNEL 

If I hadn’t become a professional sportsman at 18 I’d have loved to have gone to university and studied for a degree in history.

It was always my favourite subject at school and I am fascinated by the past.

Last night I watched a documentary about the part Malta played in the Second World War.

The island was a strategic airfield for the allies but it was bombed so heavily that it was practically destroyed by the hostilities.

It is now a place I desperately want to visit.

I have a real passion for anything medieval which is why I love the drama series Game Of Thrones.

Watching it really does make me feel like I am disappearing into a magical and mysterious parallel universe.

3. CYCLING

I have always been sporty and when I was a teenager I almost signed up to be a professional footballer but I enjoyed athletics more.

Obviously I have to do a lot of training, which is probably why I enjoy getting out on my bike so much.

It is something I do for my own enjoyment as it isn’t strictly part of my training programme.

I recently treated myself to a Trek Fuel EX 8 mountain bike which is phenomenal.

I live in a beautiful village in the middle of the countryside and being able to disappear off on my bike for a couple of hours two or three times a week is a wonderful way to relax.

4. MY DOGS

Ever since I can remember I have been strangely obsessed with dogs.

When our family pet, a beloved black labrador Fran, died when I was a boy, my parents were so upset that they refused to replace her.

So as soon as I had enough money for a home of my own I got two labradors called Murphy and Dexter.

They are now seven and I also have Gus, a 20-month-old Northern Inuit.

I really enjoy taking them for a run in the woods close to my home and I love the way they bark in delight at me whenever I get home.

What is so great about dogs is that all they really want or need is to be fed, walked and loved.

5. MOUNTAINS

I come from a very ordinary background but when I was growing up my dad, who is a builder, got a second job as a ski instructor at The Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead and taught me to ski.

Every year we would go skiing in Andorra and I remember being mesmerised by the magnificence of the Pyrenees.

For the past few years I have gone skiing with friends in France and every time I am spellbound by the Alps.

When I retire I intend to live out the rest of my days in a tiny mountain hut so I can ski every day and go on long walks in the freshly fallen snow.