When Edwards arrived at Gothenburg’s Ullevi Stadium, no-one had ever jumped past 18 metres in ‘authorized’ wind situations.
Throughout the first two rounds of the competitors, he had managed it twice.
He landed past the measuring board along with his opening-round bounce of 18.16m after which added one other 13cm to the file round 20 minutes later in what’s considered one of British athletics’ best performances.
He was the occasion’s type athlete that 12 months, arriving in Sweden because the world file holder after leaping 17.98 to beat American Willie Banks’ earlier mark by one centimetre and had additionally recorded the longest bounce in historical past of a wind-assisted 18.43m.
He has all the time described himself as a sprinter, slightly than a jumper, likening his contact with the bottom via the hop-step-jump phases to a pebble skimming the water and at 71kg was additionally lighter than many different athletes.
He had modified his approach that season, adopting a double arm motion – slightly than an alternate arm motion – that he mentioned made him “so effectively balanced” via all of his phases.
However however he was removed from assured, admitting that he purchased sun shades at Gothenburg airport to cover his eyes when he was warming up so his rivals “would not see the concern” he had.
What his rivals noticed was very completely different.
“In our coaching periods, we studied Edwards movies day in, time out,” Jerome Romain, who took the bronze medal in Gothenburg, mentioned. “It was simply outstanding the issues that he did.”
Silver medallist Brian Wellman believes Edward set the file as a result of “he was essentially the most environment friendly triple jumper on the market”.