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Olympic champ Greg Rutherford says he wants to make Christmas as magical as possible for his kids - after festive celebrations were banned when he was growing up.

The London 2012 hero was raised by strict Jehovah’s Witness parents, who didn’t celebrate Christmas, Easter or even birthdays.

There was no roast turkey, no twinkling decorations and certainly no presents. Even talking about Christmas was off limits.

Greg, 32, said: “I was brought up with no Christmas at all - it was just an ordinary day.

“All my school friends would be talking about getting presents and having all this fun with their families, and I wanted that too.

“The only thing I looked forward to was that there would be lots of films on TV over Christmas.

“One year I got a cup and put it to the wall to listen to the neighbours opening all their presents.

“I remember sitting there and being quite happy at their reactions. I’d feel happy for them getting what they wanted.”

But Greg, who has two children Milo, four, and Rex, one, with girlfriend Susie Verrill, says he doesn’t want the same childhood for his kids.

He said: “When I was 18 and old enough to make the decision myself, I chose not to carry on with that and now I go all out for Christmas.

“I want my children to have all the magic that I never had.

“This is the first year that Milo really, really gets it. His excitement levels are right up there.

“We’ve been doing Elf on the Shelf with him and he’s absolutely loving it.”

(Image: Getty)

And Christmas for Greg will be extra special this year because it is the first one since he has retired from long jump - and he can’t wait to indulge.

He said: “The great thing about being retired is I can eat and drink as much as like and don’t have to worry about training.

“In the past I’d spend three or four hours training in the morning. Nothing stopped, nothing changed.

“But this year, I can wake up, drink and just be incredibly merry. I can’t wait. It’s going to be so special.”

Greg, who won his Olympic gold medal on Super Saturday alongside Mo Farah and Jess Ennis-Hill, is also hosting a huge Christmas Eve party for friends and family at their home near Milton Keynes.

He said: “The only issue we have is we’re having lots of building work done and at the moment and we don’t even have a kitchen.

“I’m trying not to think about it. Hopefully it will be ready in time.

“On Christmas Day Susie’s family will be coming over. My parents still don’t celebrate Christmas.

“I will be doing all the cooking and I am going to town. It will be a very large feast for everyone. We’ll have a large turkey, a large piece of beef too. And all the trimmings possible.”

Greg, who is supporting Persil’s #dirtisgood campaign, said Christmas lunch is always followed by a walk in his household.

He said: “The kids love it. Getting muddy in the outdoors is their favourite thing and sadly I don’t think kids do enough of that nowadays.

“I don’t care if my sons aren’t sporty. They don’t have to go on to become Olympic champions, I just want them to be active and outside.”

As for the New Year, Greg says he plans to start training again - but this time on a bike.

He said: “I am strongly considering track cycling and will go to the testing at the start of next year.

“But I will only do it if there’s a possibility of being good at it.”