Rutherford: I'd love Van Commennee to stay

Long jumper Greg Rutherford has applauded the work of UK Athletics head Charles van Commennee and says he wants him to stay.

Van Commennee, whose contract runs out at the end of this year, is currently on holiday deciding his future. The Athletics head believes his credibility will be damaged if he chooses to stay on in the role after the British team failed to meet his target of eight medals at London 2012, but Rutherford has spoke publicly of his support for the Dutchman. "I'd love him to stay," said Rutherford, who won gold at the summer games. "I understand where he's coming from but we still walked away with six medals, four of them gold. I think Charles is very hard on himself. "For a lot of people it did work - Jess [Ennis], Mo [Farah], Robbie [Grabarz], Christine [Ohuruogu] and myself - and I think he should take a lot of credit for that. "If it continues the way it's going we could see many more medals at the next Olympics and I think we need someone like Charles at the helm."