Triple jumper Edwards completes title collection
Derek Parr
England's world record holder Jonathan Edwards sealed a crowd-pleasing win under pressure to complete a full set of major championship triple jump titles at the Commonwealth Games on Sunday.
The 36-year-old world and Olympic champion trailed through the first two rounds but responded with the biggest jump in the world this year of 17.86 metres to clinch his first Commonwealth title after winning silver medals in 1994 and 1998.
"I was very nervous. Everyone was saying that I would win. That's tough. Second place is losing," Edwards said.
The win made him only the fourth athlete to complete a grand slam of Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth titles, following fellow Britons Daley Thompson, Linford Christie and Sally Gunnell.
Leevan Sands of the Bahamas was the early leader putting in jumps of 16.87 and 17.26 as Edwards, the first man in action on the start list, had grimaced at his own modest opening 16.26 and second-round no-jump.
But fellow Englishman Phillips Idowu really put the pressure on Edwards with his second-round leap of 17.68, drawing the bold response from the Olympic champion which turned out to be the end of the battle.
Idowu took the silver in an England one-two and Sands the bronze.
STUNNED RESPONSE
"I was pretty stunned by Idowu's jump. I was all over the place technically. Even my 17.86 was an ugly jump. It was a sheer competitive response," he said.
"I was very relieved to get out of it. The competition was stop-start with a few medal ceremonies affecting concentration. There was an 18-metre plus jump in me. I just did not have the technical capability."
Edwards, who has won two world titles, was delighted with his "grand slam".
"I never thought that one day it would happen to me," he said. "It's extra special because it is the first time I have won a major championship with the whole family there to watch me."
The 38,000-capacity crowd roared their approval.
"It was just like a party -- amazing," Edwards said.
"There were 112,000 in Sydney for the Olympics and I don't think they made any more noise than this, it's just remarkable."
