Jonathan Edwards

Topics:

• Sport

Jonathan was born in London in 1966, he retired from competitive athletics in 2002 and now concentrates his time on his media work, corporate commitments and motivational speaking.

His Faith

The second most famous thing about Jonathan Edwards is his Christian faith. However, as a young athlete he attracted attention for refusing to compete on Sundays and foregoing the opportunity to compete in the World Championships in 1991.

In 1993 he compromised and decided to use his God-given talent to its full potential. As one of the regular presenters on BBC ONE's long-running series Songs Of Praise, Jonathan is once again achieving fame for his religious commitments.

King of the Triple Jump

Jonathan is best known as king of the triple jump. He was English schools champion in 1984 and competed at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and Barcelona Olympics in 1992. He first made the record books in 1995 when he smashed the triple jump world record at the World Championships in Gothenburg with an amazing jump of 18.29m - to date no one has even come close to this distance.

There are few triple jumping titles Jonathan hasn't won. However, it was only at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 that he finally achieved his ultimate dream of an Olympic gold medal. He captured the nation's heart and returned home to a hero's welcome.

In 2002 Jonathan won Commonwealth Gold at Manchester and became one of only four elite athletes to have held all four major world titles at the same time - Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth. A glittering career on track has been matched by his accolades off track, including BBC Sports Personality of the Year (1995), the IAFF's Athlete of the Year (1995) and a CBE in the New Years Honours List (2000).

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