Gert SinilooPärnu Ülejõe Gymnasium

Form 10A Teacher: Kai Kõks

Pärnu 2009

Introduction His full name is Jonathan David

Edwards He is a former British triple jumper He was born on May 10 1966 in

London He lives in Newcastle upon Tyne,

England He is a CBE (Commander of the

British Empire) He is 183cm tall and weighs 72kg

Education Edwards attended

West Buckland School; on leaving he received the Fortescue Medal for sporting and academic excellence

Attending Van Mildert College, he read Physics at Durham University

Athletics career Edwards initially refused to compete

on Sundays due to his strong Christian beliefs; he later changed his mind and thanks to that won the bronze medal for the World Championships of 1993

In 1995 he jumped 18.43m at the European Cup, but that leap was wind assisted and did not count for record purposes; later that year, during the World Championships, he broke the world record twice: first he jumped 18.16m and after 20 minutes 18.29m

Athletics career At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics he

competed as a favourite, but did not win the gold medal; he walked away with a silver medal after having jumped 17.88m (that is the longest jump ever not to win the gold medal)

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics he won the Olympic gold medal and was awarded the CBE shortly afterwards

Athletics career At one point in 2002,

Edwards held all the gold medals for the four major competitions in the world

Edwards retired in 2003 after the World Championships as Great Britain's most successful medal winning athlete

Edwards' medals 1 Olympic gold and 1 silver medal 1 gold medal and 2 silver ones for the

Commonwealth Games 2 gold medals, 1 silver medal and 2

bronze medals for the World Championships

1 silver medal for the World Indoor Championships

1 gold medal and 1 bronze medal for the European Championships

6 gold medals and 1 silver medal for the European Cup

1 gold medal for the European Indoor Championships

Post-athletics career

After his retirement, Edwards became a sports commentator mainly working for the BBC; he also worked as a presenter for a TV-program called Songs of Praise, but he gave it up after losing his faith

He is a member of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games; he represents athletes in the organisation of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games

Religious beliefs Edwards initially refused to compete

on Sundays due to his strong Christian beliefs; that decision cost him the chance to compete in the 1991 World Championships; in 1993, after discussing it with his father, who is a vicar, he changed his mind

In February 2007 it was widely reported that Edwards had lost his faith in God; he said that he was going through a very difficult period and wished not to comment on it

Personal life Edwards is

married and his wife is called Alison

They have two sons called Nathan and Sam

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Edwards_(athlete) http://www.sportinglife.com/pictures/general/allsportedwardsflag.jpg http://www.isbi.com/isbiimages/p1223a.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d46/xelakram/jonathan_edwards_220.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Jonathan_Edwards_olympics_2000.jpg http://d.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/ng/sp/empics/20080628/13/1518575716-tennis-wimbledon-championships-2008-day-six-england-club.jpg http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/sports/photos/2008/05/06/essentials-triplejump-edwar.jpg http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1675000/images/_1679684_edwards300.jpg http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39437000/jpg/_39437479_bbc.jpg http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/02_1/edwards100207_228x159.jpg