When Edwards arrived at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, no one had jumped more than 18 meters in “legal” wind.
In the first two rounds of the competition, I had achieved it twice.
He reached beyond the measurement board with his opening round jump or 18.16my then added another 13 cm to the record around 20 minutes later in what is one of the greatest performances of British athletics.
He was the athlete of the event that year, arriving in Sweden as the head of the world after jumping 17.98 to defeat the anterior brand of American Willie Banks by a centimeter and also recorded the longest jump in the history of 18.43m assisted by the wind.
He has always described himself as a sprinter, instead of a jumper, comparing his contact with the ground through the jump-to-salt phases to a stone that already made the water and 71 kg was also lighter than many athletes.
He had changed his technique that season, adopting a double arm action, instead of an alternative arm movement, which said he did it “so well balanced” through all its phases.
However, he was never far from trusting, admitting that he bought sunglasses at the Gothenburg airport to hide his eyes when he was heating, so his competitors “would see the fear” he had.
What their rivals saw was very different.
“In our training sessions, we study Videos of Edwards day after day,” said Jerome Romain, who carries the bronze medal in drip -tree. “The things he did was only remarkable.”
The silver medalist Brian Wellman believes that Edward established the record because “he was the most efficient triple jumper.”