Greg Rutherford and his family have been subjected to abuse on social media as a result of his stance on fellow BBC Sports Personality of the Year nominee Tyson Fury.

The Olympic gold-medallist long jumper had been rumoured to be boycotting the awards event because of his objection to boxer Fury's inclusion on the shortlist despite his homophobic and misogynistic comments, although he later clarified that he would be attending.

Rutherford has revealed that he, along with girlfriend Susie Verill, has been targeted by trolls in the wake of his reaction to Fury's nomination.

"If I have seen a wrong or someone is doing it wrong I will make a stand for that, and maybe some people thought that was the wrong thing," Rutherford told BBC Radio 5 live. "The Twitter abuse my family and I have received since has been a bit harsh in my opinion.

"I probably won't speak to [Fury], I have made my stance clear and a big part of it, that I said to the BBC privately, is that I would not go for a drink or meet up with this person with views like that and that still stands.

"I have no desire to mix with people that have strong views that I feel put down people that possibly do not always have the strongest voice."

An online petition to remove Fury - who has equated homosexuality with paedophilia and claimed that a woman's "best place is on her back" - has now been signed by nearly 140,000 people.

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015 will be revealed in Belfast on Sunday.