Jonathan Edwards: “It’s not impossible my world record could go”

The 2000 Olympic triple jump champion believes his long-standing mark of 18.29m may be broken in Paris

It’s not often you break two world records in the space of 20 minutes but Jonathan Edwards did just that at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg.

Jonathan Edwards

In the build-up to those championships, Edwards had added one centimetre to Willie Banks’ 10-year-old world record of 17.97m in Salamanca and looked in imperious form.

In Gothenburg he produced a string of jumps that are still talked about to this day, recording marks of 18.16m and 18.29m, with the latter still standing as the world record.

Edwards’ mark of 18.16m was the third best in history until the recent European Championships, where Spain’s Jordan Alejandro Díaz Fortún – originally of Cuba – jumped 18.18m.

With current Olympic champion Pedro Pichardo having also jumped 18.04m this season, it means the triple jump final in Paris could be one of the events of the entire Games.

Kenny Harrison’s 18.09m from Atlanta 1996 is still the Olympic record but, such is the calibre of competition that talk of the likes of Díaz or Pichardo surpassing Edwards’ 18.29m is in the air.

Ahead of the Olympic triple jump final, we caught up with the 2000 Olympic champion at PUMA House in Paris on whether he thinks his record could be broken and what winning gold in Sydney 24 years ago meant to him.

What are your thoughts on the Olympic men’s triple jump final? 

I think it will be a very strong final. It’ll probably be the best for a number of years, since Christian Taylor was at his peak. I remember he jumped 18.21m at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and that was incredible.

We saw a bit of a preview of this final at the European Championships in Rome, where Pedro Pichardo and Jordan Díaz showed they are in great form. Then there is [Jamaican] Jaydon Hibbert and I’ve been watching him from afar doing these crazy distances off a short approach. He’s an incredible talent and, although he has a few niggles, I’m really looking forward to seeing him jump. [World champion] Hugues Fabrice Zango is also jumping well. If they all push each other, then it could lead to something quite special.

You’ve got one of the longest standing world records in track and field. Do you think that is under threat tonight? 

It’s not impossible it could go. You’ve seen how far Díaz jumped in Rome and Pichardo is over 18m as well. It depends on conditions and the wind will have a huge impact. If there’s a slight headwind then they won’t break the world record but if they have an aiding wind and the competition really hots up then it’s certainly not out of the question.

Pichardo, I think, is the class of the field. He’s the reigning Olympic champion and knows how to get it done, which is so important in an Olympic final. Then you’ve got Jaydon at the other end, who is not even 20 years old and this is his first Games, so it’s a big step up for him. The competition will be fierce and [the world record being broken is] not out of the question.

Why do you think your world record has lasted so long?

I’m asked that a lot, for obvious reasons, and the answer is that I don’t know. There are four men’s field event world records from the 1990s that are still standing. You’ve got Mike Powell in the long jump, Javier Sotomayor in the high jump, Jan Železný in the javelin and then myself in the triple jump.

There’s one argument that I use, and it doesn’t completely hold true because it’s not the case across all the events, but I think there are so many more options for talented sportsmen and sportswomen to make more money now. I think the talent pool going into track and field is smaller so that’s the only thing that I can think of, apart from the fact that it’s a great record!

There’s this explosion in technology and you’ve definitely seen that in track events. When you introduce it in field events, yes it’s about equipment and that can help you, but it’s about the technical aspect and the ability of the individual.

There’s a pair of the spikes that I wore when I broke the world record at the PUMA archive and they are big, heavy and rigid. They now look historic! However, they worked for me. I was obviously physiologically very suited to the triple jump and that’s what made the biggest impact.

How useful were the Seoul and Barcelona Olympics in preparing you for gold in Sydney and silver in Atlanta? 

I think it took me a while to feel comfortable at an environment like an Olympics. In both Seoul and Barcelona I failed to qualify for the final and came away pretty devastated. Those are always the crucial points in life and it’s how you respond if things are rubbish. It undoubtedly gave me a stronger core and resilience.

In Atlanta I could’ve so easily walked away with nothing. I had two fouls in the final and all over the place mentally. I then got a silver there and won in Sydney.

What’s your best memory at an Olympics? 

I was lucky enough to compete on ‘Magic Monday’ at Sydney 2000 and saw how the Australian crowd responded to Cathy Freeman. It was spine-tingling and there was 112,000 people in that stadium. That was a high point and people forget that Michael Johnson, Kelly Holmes and Colin Jackson ran. Plus the Haile Gebrselassie v Paul Tergat 10,000m final.