Edwards announces retirement

Jonathan Edwards has this morning announced that he will retire immediately after attempting to defend his World Triple Jump title at the 9th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Paris 2003 Saint Denis.

It was only yesterday evening (Thu 21 Aug) just as the World Triple Jump record holder flew into Paris - two days before the defence of his world title - that UK Athletics officials had sought to erase any doubts hanging over his form and fitness.

Edwards has jumped only three times this year, and hasn’t won a competition all summer. His best effort, 17.61m, came when he finished second to his great rival Christian Olsson on his home track in Gateshead. Then, at the end of his last competition in Crystal Palace, London, where he finished third, Edwards was stretchered from the arena after suffering what appeared to be a severe injury to his right ankle.

At an emotional UKA team press conference in the athletes village this morning, Edwards firstly quoted Proverbs 16, Verse 9 of the Bible >>A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps<<

And then continued.

"After Crystal Palace I felt God was directing my path, almost literally off the runway."

At first he thought he had boken his ankle and at best ruptured his ligaments and that his career was at an end.

"I feel almost a miracle happened, even my coach who is not a believer thought it was a miracle how quick my ankle had recovered. I feel I have been given one opportunity to go out with dignity rather than going out on a stretcher."

"I think it was a sign that this was the time to stop."

"I'll jump here (Paris) and that will be the end of my career. It's quite an emotional moment."  

Edwards accident in London had come when he was attempting one last effort to beat Leevan Sands of the Bahamas, who led with 17.40m, when his foot caught the side of the runway and buckled.

It was another low point in what is proving to be a poor 2003 for the Olympic champion. In March, Edwards failed to win a medal of any colour at the World Indoor championships in front of his British fans in Birmingham.

But yesterday afternoon UKA confirmed that the reigning World and OIympic champion had come to Paris fit to compete and could still be a strong medal contender, and even with today's subsequent announcement, those pronoucements still very much hold true as he will sure want to go out with a bang! 

“Jonathan is a very tough athlete,” said Bryan English, the British team’s chief medical officer yesterday. “He recovers very quickly from injuries and can compete maximally even when he has a slight niggle.”

How slight a niggle it is will only become clear when Edwards jumps for the first time in the qualifying competition on Saturday morning. Max Jones, UKA’s Performance Director, admitted that he had feared the worst when he saw one of his small team’s few World Championships medal hopes being wheeled from the Crystal Palace track two weeks ago. But rumours that Edwards had fractured his ankle were soon allayed, and he was diagnosed with sprained ligaments.

“Within a week to 10 days Jonathan was confident he would be able to compete,” said English. “There are occasions in this sport when you cross your fingers behind your back and hope that an athlete will be OK – I don’t think this is one of those occasions.”

Jones reported that Edwards had put in a couple of “good training sessions” this week and dismissed the 37 year-old’s relatively weak performances this season as a poor indicator of his medal chances. “I think the thing with Jonathan is he needs adrenaline,” said Jones. “When you’ve been around as long he has, even 17,000 people at Crystal Palace doesn’t quite have the same effect as a major championships. When you’ve done it all you need the big stage. The longer you go in your career, the more meetings feel flat.

“I wouldn’t bet against him getting a medal here. He’s still capable of jumping 17.60m and that could be enough for the gold.”