Born in London on May 18, 1966, triple jumper Jonathan Edwards was, by his own admission, “a very late developer”. However, having failed to qualify for two consecutive Summer Olympics, in Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992, in 1995 he enjoyed a true annus mirabilis.
In June, at the European Cup, Edwards jumped an illegally wind-assisted 18.43 metres at what is now the Stadium Lille-Metropole, making him the first man in history to jump beyond 60 feet, or 18.29 metres, and just the third, after the American duo Willie Banks and Mike Conley, to jump beyond 18 metres under any circumstances. He later reflected on his achievement, saying, “Afterwards, I was very disappointed. I think my 18.43m was worth between 18.20m and 18.30m legal.”
His disappointment did not last long, though. In July, Edwards jumped 17.74 metres in Gateshead to break the British record and 17.98 metres in Salamanca to break the 10-year-old world record previously held by the aforementioned Willie Banks.
In August, at the World Athletics Championships in Gothenberg, Edwards broke the world record again, with a first-round jump of 18.16 metres, making him the first man in history to legitimately jump beyond 18 metres. Clearly ‘in the groove’, in the second round he did so again, sailing out to an eye-watering 18.29 metres, thereby setting a new world record, which, at the time of writing, still stands. Not altogether surprisingly, Edwards became an instant celebrity.
Edwards ended 1995 by being voted World Athlete of the Year, European Athlete of the Year and BBC Sports Personality of the Year, in the latter case beating boxer Frank Bruno into second place and rally driver Colin McRae into third in the public vote. Having accepting the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award from Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher, Edwards began, “I’m not quite sure I can speak,” but went on to thank his coaches, his wife, Alison, and his mother and father. He said, “The thing that’s stuck out is how many people have sacrified without the sort of rewards that I’ve received this year.”