It was a personal best by five centimetres for the 25-year-old from Milton Keynes, matching the effort recorded by his rival Chris Tomlinson in Paris last July.

After his competition at the OTC-Pre-Olympic Series II meeting, Rutherford (pictured above) – who was able to take advantage of the maximum wind speed admissible for record purposes, 2.00m per second – tweeted: "Not a bad day. PB in San Diego with a cheeky +2.0! Feels good with a larger crowd as well.

"The OTC in San Diego is my new fav place to jump. Actually just behind Paris and Crystal Palace."

He added: "Wind was all over the place. Had a couple behind the board. If only it was 8.36! Could have called myself British record holder again! I have to settle for joint record holder...For now"

Rutherford, a silver medallist at the 2006 European Championships and at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, has previously been British record holder, having surpassed Tomlinson's previous mark of 8.29m by a centimetre at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in 2009.

He is next scheduled to compete in the IAAF Samsung Diamond League meeting in Doha on May 11.

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