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Greg Rutherford secured Great Britain's 13th gold medal of the London 2012 Olympics by winning the long jump.

Rutherford's fourth-round leap of 8.31m was enough to take victory on a glorious night for Team GB.

He finished ahead of Australia's Mitchell Watt, who recorded 8.16m to take silver.

Will Claye of the United States won bronze with a jump of 8.12m while Britain's Chris Tomlinson finished sixth with a best of 8.07m.

Tomlinson led after the first round, posting a jump of 8.06m, but it did not take long for Rutherford to hit form, with the Brit leaping 8.21m to take a second-round lead as the atmosphere intensified inside the Olympic Stadium.

The 25-year-old's third round was a more modest 8.14m while Tomlinson too could not better his initial jump, with the rest of the field also struggling to make a significant impression on the leaderboard.

Both Claye and Sweden's Michel Torneus were his nearest rivals with the pair locked at 8.07m, fully 14cm behind the Brit at the halfway stage.

Torneus reduced that gap with a jump of 8.11m before Rutherford extended his lead with 8.31m with two jumps left.

Watt then posted his best jump of the competition, but neither he nor Claye could surpass Rutherford, who held on to win Britain's fifth gold medal of the day, with Mo Farah later making it six in the 10,000m.

It was the first time since 1964 that GB had won the long jump, Lynn Davies taking victory in Tokyo.

"I knew I was in great shape," Rutherford told ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport.

"My team are incredible and I have the most amazing parents and beautiful girlfriend in the world. I've got a pretty good life, I cannot lie. Everybody has worked so hard for me.

"I thought I was going to jump further than that, but I don't care, I'm Olympic champion. What a night for British athletics - three gold medals. I can't thank everyone enough.

"This is what I have dreamed of my whole life and to do it in London is just incredible, I might wake up in a minute."