Olymic gold medalist, television presenter

In a glittering career that has spanned some 15 years there are few titles that Jonathan Edwards has not won. However it was not until Sydney 2000 that Jonathan achieved his ultimate goal of winning Gold at the Olympics. Up until then, it had been the one Gold medal that had eluded him but he jumped 17.77 at the glittering event in Sydney and captured the heart of the nation to return home to a hero's welcome.

Jonathan Edwards’ extraordinary achievements earned him a place in history as one of the World’s greatest athletes.

Despite questions being asked about how much longer he intends to compete, Jonathan is keeping his options open for the future, not surprisingly as he is British number one by some margin and 2003 looks set to be another great year. Jonathan first made the record books in 1995 when he set a devastating World Record at the World Championships in Gothenburg with an amazing jump of 18.29m, to date no one has even come close to this distance.

In 2002 Jonathan made the record books again when he joined Athletics most elite club when he added the Commonwealth Gold to his medal collection, meaning that he became only one of four athletes in the world who have held all four major titles (Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth) at one time.

A marvelous career on track has been equally matched by his accolades off track including the BBC's prestigious Sports Personality of the Year Award (95) and a CBE in the New Years Honors List 2000. In a reflection of his huge profile both as an athlete and as a role model, Jonathan has also achieved a great deal of success with carefully selected commercial partners including Ultralase and MG Rover and he also currently enjoys fulfilling the prestigious role of Worldwide Ambassador for the Asics brand.

2003 has also seen the emergence of Jonathan on to our TV screens as a regular presenter of Songs of Praise and as a frontman for BBC 1's landmark documentary on St Paul. He has also signed a long-term agreement with BBC Sport.