by Our Sports Desk

GREG RUTHERFORD landed gold at the World Championships in Beijing yesterday, completing an illustrious full set of major titles.

The 28-year-old produced his furthest jump of the year when he needed it most, soaring out to 8.41 metres to add the world crown to his Olympic, European and Commonwealth successes.

The success took Great Britain’s medal tally to three — all gold.

The team rebel, who has caused controversy with his extraordinary criticism of UK Athletics, followed in the footsteps of his fellow “Super Saturday” gold medallists from London 2012, Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill, by triumphing at the Bird’s Nest stadium.

Rutherford received no real challenge in a competition littered with fouls, taking the lead from round two and responding to his winning fourth-round attempt by punching the air and roaring with delight. He knew he had done enough.

Silver went to Australia’s Fabrice Lapierre with 8.24m and bronze to China’s Jianan Wang with 8.18m.

Victory for the Briton was the perfect response to the critics who branded his Olympic win a fluke. Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth gold, and a British record, all in the space of three years’ is an achievement hard to put down.

And on top of that he is also in the running for the Diamond League crown.

Rutherford becomes only the fifth British athlete to hold all four major titles at the same time, following Daley Thompson, Linford Christie, Sally Gunnell and Jonathan Edwards.

“I am a bit lost for words to be totally honest,” he told the BBC. “What an incredible night.

“This is the culmination of so many different people’s work while we have been here.”