‘It’s crazy’ – Edwards amazed world record still stands, hails ‘athletic god’ Bolt

Olympic champion triple jumper Jonathan Edwards reflected on his glittering career and breaking a world record which continues to stand the test of time.

Edwards broke the record at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg with a jump of 18.29 metres or 60 feet to secure the first of two gold medals at the event, with the second coming in Edmonton six years later.

When reflecting on the feat, Edwards is still in disbelief that the record still stands after all these years and gave an insight as to how he was able to achieve such an outstanding result.

He told Eurosport: “It’s a good record. I think if you look at the technique of triple jumpers, I jumped a little bit differently.

“I was very light and very quick across the ground, and I maintained my speed. So my final jump was a long way. So I think that was the key for it.

“I think I was faster, and I kept that speed through the jump, and my technique and my rhythm was very good. But yeah, it’s crazy. It’s lasted so long.”

The 57-year-old admits that there was genuine shock that man of his slight stature was capable to break new ground in the sport, and drew an interesting comparison between himself and world record sprinter, Usain Bolt.

“I can remember when I broke the record, I don’t think anybody was expecting me to be the person to jump 18 metres, to jump 60 feet,” he explained.

“And they all looked at me and thought, ‘well, he doesn’t look that impressive. And if he can do it, then we can all it.’

“But it didn’t quite turn out like that. So I think people find it very frustrating. I mean, if I look like Usain Bolt, who’s like this athletic God, everybody thinks, ‘oh, wow, I could never run that fast.’ But they look at me and go, ‘well, if he can do it, I can do it, too.’”

Edwards retired from the sport with one Olympic gold medal at his final Games appearance in Sydney 24 years ago.

He would go out on a high after that success, following a silver medal four years previous in Atlanta, and agonisingly missing out on a podium finish in Barcelona in 1992.

“My Olympic experiences have been mixed, for sure,” he admitted.

“I was disappointed in Atlanta when I was the favourite, although I jumped well in the end to get a silver medal.

“Being devastated in Barcelona in ’92, I thought I had a chance of maybe getting a bronze medal, certainly being in the final, but I didn’t even qualify. The Games in 1988 were an adventure as it was my first Olympics; that was fabulous.

“And then Sydney, all the pressure of trying to win in what was likely to be my last Olympics. But I think the best moment was probably standing on the rostum in Sydney because that sense of fulfilment, relief and thankfulness for all the people that had helped me to get to this point.

I was 34 years old, so it was likely my last chance to be Olympic champion. It does represent the pinnacle of a sport.

“I think I get more pleasure from the world record. But if you ask anybody, what’s the best thing you can do as an athlete? They say, win the Olympic Games. So to do that as a world record holder was a very special moment.”