Edwards' New Year treat

Olympic triple-jump champ Jonathan Edwards has been awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours List.

English Schools champion in 1984, Edwards first jumped 16m in 1986 and progressed rapidly to become the best triple jumper in Britain by 1989, when he burst into world class form and was third at the World Cup with 17.28m.

In 1990 his form was affected by an injured right ankle, but he won the Commonwealth silver medal, a feat he repeated in 1994.

A vicar's son and committed Christian, he would not compete on Sundays, thus passing up the chance of competing in the 1991 World Championships - but changed his mind in 1993.

This proved fortunate as the qualifying round of the triple jump at the Worlds was on a Sunday. He progressed safely to the final, where he took the bronze medal.

He hit wondrous form in 1995, taking triple-jumping into a new era, sailing well beyond 18m at the European Cup, when with a wind just over the legal limit of 2 metres a second he produced the first triple jumps ever over 60 ft with 18.29m.

His series was 17.90m wind-assisted, 18.43w (+2.4), 17.72 with a legal wind to add 14cm to his British record, and 18.39w (+3.7).

The previous longest ever jump was 18.20m (+5.2 wind) by Willie Banks (USA) at Indianapolis in 1988 and the world record was 17.97.

He had started that outdoor season with a British record 17.58m, having achieved a wind-aided best of 17.70m in 1993.

After taking the world record with 17.98m at Salamanca, he achieved the unprecedented feat of world records on his first two jumps in the World final in Gothenburg - 18.16m and 18.29m, thus the first 18m and 60ft jumps with legal wind.

He ended the year unbeaten in 14 competitions, was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year and the L'Equipe international Champion of Champions, and received the MBE in the New Year Honours.

His run of 22 successive wins was ended by Kenny Harrison at the 1996 Olympic Games, but he stayed at the forefront of world triple-jumping.

He had keyhole surgery on his left ankle at the end of the 1998 season, causing him to miss the Commonwealth Games, but remained the man to beat in the world of triple-jumping and won nine of his 12 competitions in 1999.

His win in the Sydney Olympics finally gave him the medal he wanted more than anything else - and the acclaim to go with it.