Twenty questions with ... former Olympic triple jump gold medallist and world record holder Jonathan Edwards - Telegraph
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Twenty questions with ... former Olympic triple jump gold medallist and world record holder Jonathan Edwards
Telegraph Sport talks to Jonathan Edwards, the Olympic triple jump gold    medallist and BBC commentator, about on-air faux-pas, his love of badboys    and, of course, his passion for cycling
 
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Jonathan Edwards will be riding the Marie Curie Cancer Care Etape Pennines, his first ever cyclosportive . . . 
 
Date of birth: May 10, 1966
Height: 1.82m
Club: None
Strengths: Not convinced I have any
Jonathan Edwards is a former triple jumper who represented Great Britain at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games.
Edwards set a world record of 18.29m that remains to the day at the 1995 world championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, on the way to his first of two world titles.
Following a career that saw him win Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth titles Edwards has worked as a sports commentator with the BBC and was a member of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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In 2012 Edwards first covered cycling for the BBC at the Track World Cup in Glasgow.
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What's your earliest memory of cycling?
Miguel Indurain winning the Tour de France . I was captivated by him winning five Tours in a row. I think I was watching the [1996] Tour on French Eurosport when he was going for a sixth title and he got dropped on the mountain and I remember the commentator shouting 'Indurain lâcher', meaning he'd been dropped.
And your first bike?
I had a Raleigh Chopper.
What's the last film you watched?
The last film I watched was, er … Oh, that one that was weird that had Keira Knightley in it ... you know, the one where they donate their organs ... what's it called? It was a book. You know, it was in a school and it all appeared fairly normal and then you realise ... 'Never Let Me Go', that's it.
Can you remember the first bike race you went to?
I think the first bike race I went to was when I was working for the BBC. I covered the very first international event at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow which was a round of the Track World Cup in 2012. That was the first live cycling event I had been to.
So, why the switch over to cycling?
Well, I always wanted to broaden out and be a general presenter rather than being an expert. Being the anchor is just a general broadcasting skill. I love, I think, all sports and I'm fascinated by them and so I just looked for opportunities to develop career-wise. I really enjoy cycling so when the opportunity came along in 2012 to do that – fortunately it went well – and now I've got a cycling gig with the BBC, I'm now doing the Winter Olympics and did the Paralympics for Channel 4.
For me it's not just about being into athletics and knowing about that sport as a pundit, but also being a broadcaster who can turn his hand to anything.
Are you finding the learning curve a steep one?
Absolutely. Because I have a love of cycling I'm just a sponge for any knowledge, so when I'm with these guys I just pester them for information. Obviously I want to improve my own cycling, I want to understand the sport better so that I can ask intelligent questions.
When we were doing Florence [for the road world championships] last September we had about eight or nine minutes to fill between the end of the men's time trial which Tony Martin won, and the medal presentation. For those moments I need to know what I'm talking about and have a whole reservoir of knowledge because otherwise I'd get to about three minutes and run out of questions. So, fortunately, despite Chris [Boardman] and I scraping the barrel, we did fill the time.
So yes, it's really important to be prepared for those moments when they say 'just keep talking'.
Any on-air cycling faux-pas that you'd care to share with us?
I've not had any real disasters, but once I did have Vicky Pendleton with me as a guest and Becky James was out on the track. Of course both are sprinters and I think I got a few Beckys and Vickys the wrong way round.
Oh no, I'm lying, I did have a terrible on-air moment which happened to be a double entendre. It was at the world championships from Minsk and I was talking about Jason Kenny and I think I said something like 'Laura Trott has won two gold medals' and then said something about him needing to keep his end up with Laura. Yes, that was probably my worst on-air moment, certainly my most embarrassing.
Who has been the biggest influence on your post-athletics career?
I don't know actually, I don't think I could pick out on individual person. Do you know what, I can't name a person, but can name an event: London 2012. When I retired I immediately got involved with the bid so that had quite a profound effect on me and the skills I learnt being part of the organising committee.
And what would you be doing if you weren't working in the media?
Do you know what, that's a scary question as I haven't any idea at all. Just imagine if it didn't all work out.
What book are you reading right now?
I'm not reading a book at the moment. Actually, I'm lying. I've been reading the BBC's complete guide to the Winter Olympics .
Are you a fan of all things icy then?
Luckily I've always loved watching the Winter Olympics, I was a big fan of Ski Sunday and I love all the new freestyle skiing events - the snowboarding with Shaun White in the halfpipe and then there's a bunch of Brits who are good at it too. So yes, I have great memories of the iconic Winter Olympic moments, not just the British ones, you know Franz Klammer, Katarina Witt, the USSR against USA in the ice hockey. I love it all.
Do you have a favourite training ride?
I live in Newcastle so I go out in Northumberland and I've got a 40-mile loop which takes me through some lovely lanes and beautiful little villages. Most of it is along quiet roads so that's my stock training ride and one that I measure myself by.
How many KoMs have you got on Strava?
I don't use Strave. Do you know what, I don't want to know how fast somebody else has done the route. I'm competitive with myself, so I look at my Garmin and I'm not too bothered about anybody else is doing.
Other than cycling, do you do many other sports?
Not really. I used to play golf a lot. I used to play with my eldest son but since he's gone off to university I don't get out so much.
When was the last time you were drunk?
I've only ever been hammered once in my life - on my 20th birthday. I don't like the feeling, though I quite like being light-headed - that happens on quite a regular basis.
Who is your sporting hero?
I've not got one really. I love the mavericks, the slightly badboys of sport: John McEnroe, Alex Higgins and now, if I had to pick one person, I'd say Ronnie O'Sullivan.
I think I must like them because I've always wanted to be a badboy, but I'm not.
What was the last album you bought?
An American country and western band called Rascal Flatts.
Eddy or Fausto?