I’m having Olympic withdrawal syndrome myself. Well are you? It’s been a week since the curtain closed on what I say truly say a unique and memorable Olympics by the Chinese

It has inspired and lifted many athletes in making the impossible possible. For spectators, non-athletes ourselves we too can draw inspiration from their performances and the stories behind their success

In the coming days I’ll share some success stories from previous Olympics, to make-do or tide over this withdrawal syndrome week for fans likes me and perhaps you, haha. For those who are missing seeing the ‘usual’ Olympic action on the telly. Here’s one from 2000 Sydney, Britain’s triple jumper Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards Success Story

Because of his strong Christian beliefs during his athletic career,he initially refused to compete on Sundays, but eventually decided to do so in 1993. This decision proved timely, since the qualifying round at that year’s World Championships took place on a Sunday. He went on to win the bronze medal.

In his breakthrough year of 1995, he produced an astonishing jump of 18.43 m (60 feet 5½ inches) at the European Cup. The leap was wind assisted and did not count for record purposes but it was a sign of things to come as he capped an unbeaten year with a historic gold medal performance at the World Championships in which he broke the world record twice in the same meet.

On his first jump, he became the first man to legally pass the 18-metre barrier (18.16 m/59 feet 7 inches). That record lasted for about 20 minutes. His second jump of 18.29 m made him the first to jump 60 feet. Later the same year Edwards became the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

During 1996 Edwards went into the Olympic games as favourite and world record holder, but it was American Kenny Harrison who took the gold with a jump of 18.09 m. Edwards walked away with the silver after a leap of 17.88 m (the longest ever jump not to win gold), but some have speculated that one of the jumps he fouled on could have been the longest ever recorded, or at least won him the gold. Edwards won the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, and was awarded the CBE shortly afterwards.

He also won golds at the 2001 World Championships and 2002 Commonwealth Games. At one point in 2002, Edwards held all the gold medals for the “four majors” (Olympic Games, World Championships, Commonwealth Games & European Championships). He retired after the 2003 World Championships as Great Britain’s most successful medal winning athlete.