Jonathan Edwards (athlete)

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Template:MedalTop Template:MedalSport Template:MedalGold Template:MedalSilver Template:MedalBottom For other persons named Jonathan Edwards, see Jonathan Edwards (disambiguation)

Jonathan David Edwards (born May 10, 1966 in London, England) is a former British triple jumper and widely regarded as the finest triple jumper of all time. He is an Olympic champion and as of 2005 holds the world record in the event.

Edwards attended West Buckland School where his potential for the triple jump was spotted at an early age. He was a strong all-rounder and on leaving received the school's top award for sporting and academic excellence, the Fortescue Medal. He then read Physics at Van Mildert College, Durham. He lives in Newcastle upon Tyne and occasionally preaches at the parish church in Jesmond.

He initially refused to compete on Sundays due to his devout Christian beliefs, a decision which cost him a chance to compete in the 1991 World Championships. However in 1993, after much deliberation and discussion with his father (a vicar), he changed his mind, stating that God gave him his talent in order for him to compete. The decision proved timely, since the qualifying round at that year's World Championships took place on a Sunday. He went on to win the bronze medal.

He capped an unbeaten 1995 with a historic gold medal performance at the World Championships. On his first jump, he became the first man to legally pass the 18-metre barrier (18.16 m). That record lasted for about 20 minutes. His second jump of 18.29 m made him the first to jump 60 feet. Later the same year Edwards became the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

During 1996 Edwards went into the Olympic games as favorite and world record holder, but it was American Kenny Harrison who took the gold with a jump of 18.09 m. Edwards walked away with the silver, but some have speculated that one of the jumps he fouled on could have been the longest ever recorded, or at least won him the gold. Edwards won the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, and was awarded the CBE shortly afterwards. He also won golds at the 2001 World Championships and 2002 Commonwealth Games. He retired after the 2003 World Championships as Great Britain's most medalled athlete.

Following his retirement, Edwards has pursued a media career. He is currently a television presenter mainly working for the BBC as a sports commentator and on programmes such as Songs of Praise. He is a member of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, representing athletes in the organisation of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

An honorary doctorate was conferred upon him at a ceremony at the University of Exeter on 21 January, 2006.

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Major achievements


At one point in 2002, Jonathan held all the gold medals for the "four majors". (Olympic Games, World Championships, Commonwealth Games & European Championships.)

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External links


Olympic medalists in athletics (men) | Olympic champions in men's triple jump
Gustaf Lindblom | Vilho Tuulos | Nick Winter | Mikio Oda | Chuhei Nambu | Naoto Tajima | Arne Åhman | Adhemar da Silva (twice) | Józef Szmidt (twice) | Viktor Saneyev (thrice) | Jaak Uudmäe | Al Joyner | Khristo Markov | Mike Conley | Kenny Harrison | Jonathan Edwards | Christian Olsson


Olympic medalists in athletics (men) | Post-war British Olympic champions in men's athletics
1956: Chris Brasher (3000 m steeplechase) | 1960: Don Thompson (50 km walk) | 1964: Ken Matthews (20 km walk) | 1964: Lynn Davies (long jump) | 1968: David Hemery (400 m hurdles) 1980: Allan Wells (100 m) | 1980: Steve Ovett (800 m) | 1980 & 1984: Sebastian Coe (1500 m) | 1980 & 1984: Daley Thompson (decathlon) | 1992: Linford Christie (100 m) | 2000: Jonathan Edwards (triple jump) | 2004: Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish & Mark Lewis-Francis (4 x 100 m relay)


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