Jonathan Edwards (athlete)
Jonathan Edwards in 2000 in Sydney
Jonathan David Edwards, CBE ( born May 10, 1966 in London) is a former British triple jumper and Olympic champion. He is the current world record holder in the triple jump and was in 1995 the first triple jumper in the world, jumped over 18 meters.
Edwards was born the son of a vicar. His first appearance in international competitions was peppered with some obstacles. Because of his time strictly Christian faith he initially refused to take part in competitions, which were held on a Sunday. Thus he missed the chance to participate in the World Athletics Championships in 1991. At the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992, he retired in the qualifier.
Two years later, after numerous discussions with his father, he changed this attitude. He came to the conviction that God had given him the talent to make it in the competition test. At the World Championships 1993 he competed in the qualifying round for the first time on a Sunday and won bronze in the final.
Prior to the 1995 World Championships Edwards improved on 18 July 1995, Salamanca the ten -year-old world record by the American Willie Banks by one centimeter to the new length of 17.98 m. The competition at the World Championships in Gothenburg three weeks later went down in history: With his first jump Edwards landed in the new world record distance of 18.16 meters. 20 minutes later he improved in his second jump record by 13 inches and has been using this length of 18.29 m for the first time world champion. The Mercedes, which he received as a bonus for winning the world title, Edwards sold and donated the proceeds in the amount of 70,000 euros with reference to such a family tradition for charitable purposes. In the same year he was chosen by the BBC Sportsman of the Year.
At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta Edwards the American Kenny Harrison was defeated and won the silver medal. In the following years he was repeatedly at international championships on the podium: In 1997, he won at the World Championships in Athens silver, 1998, both at the European Indoor Championships in Valencia, as well as at the European Championships in Budapest gold at the 1999 World Championships in Seville bronze.
The victory at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 followed a year later the silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in Lisbon and the second world title at the World Championships in Edmonton. In 2002, he won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester and bronze at the European Championships in Munich.
After the 2003 World Championships in Paris / Saint -Denis, where he reached only the twelfth place after an ankle injury with 16.31 meters, he finished his career.
Edwards, which successfully completed a physics degree at the University of Durham in 1987, suggested by the career a career in the media industry and presented to 2007 in the BBC television program the program Songs of Praise were sung in Christian songs. Meanwhile, Edwards has distanced itself from Christianity and the belief in divine entities.
Edwards also worked as a board member of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games ( LOCOG ), which was responsible for the planning and organization of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in London in 2012.
Awards
- European Athlete of the Year (PAP ) 1995
- European Athlete of the Year ( UEPS ) 1995
- Champion of champions ( international) 1995
- World Athlete of the Year 1995
- European Athlete of the Year 1995, 1998
- Britain's Sportsman of the Year 1995