by Our Sports Desk

GREG RUTHERFORD aimed a fierce attack at UK Athletics (UKA) yesterday, by claiming a “class system” within the body is harming athletes.

The Olympic champion described the national governing body as “more of a hindrance than a help” in the lead-up to the championships and opened up about the current situation at the World Championships in Beijing.

“Things have not been working very well for me,” he said.

“As things come out, we’ll see there are different class systems within the system which I don’t think works well and, for me, is a massive hindrance.

“It’s safe to say there’s a bit more to come out in the coming months.”

The 28-year-old, who qualified for today’s final with a leap of 8.25 metres, said that there are “silly things” going on and he will be the one to air them to the public.

He said: “For example, my physio arrived late last night.

“I’ve been here a week and I think 12 of his 13 athletes have been here since Wednesday and he’d been asked to stay in Japan.

“So I think there are a few silly things going on they need to change and I’m in a position to let people know what’s going on.”

Rutherford also demanded critics lay off Katarina Johnson-Thompson after her long jump collapse cost her a heptathlon medal.

The 22-year-old produced three no-jumps on Sunday, the final one an ever so marginal foul, to see her hopes of challenging teammate Jessica Ennis-Hill for the title dashed in an instant.

Rutherford said the speed of the runway made controlling and adjusting timing difficult and backed the Liverpool athlete to come back firing for her individual long jump competition.

“I think what people don’t understand is this is an incredibly fast runway,” said the Milton Keynes athlete, who described the criticism of Johnson-Thompson as “out of order.”

“I heard a few comments that were a little bit harsh on her yesterday, which I think is incredibly unfair.

“I reckon if you put a speed gun on people, which we do in training quite a lot, you would be 0.1 or 0.2 of a second quicker out here and that’s a massive difference over a runway.”

Rutherford added that he would talk to Johnson-Thompson.

“I saw her briefly yesterday and the poor girl was absolutely devastated, I’ll be honest,” he said.

“But she’s strong, she’s very good, we all know how talented this girl is. I think when she comes out she’ll know what to do, get a safe jump in, get to that final and do something special.”