Jonathan Edwards CBE
In 2011 Jonathan became President of WOS. He is a former triple jump Olympic gold medallist (Sydney 2000) and since 1995, he remains the current World Record Holder when he broke the world record twice in the same meeting at Gothenburg in Germany.
His first jump was 18.16 m (59 feet 7 inches) giving Jonathan the accolade of the first man to (legally) jump 18 metres. About 20 minutes later, his second jump achieved 18.29 making him the first person on the planet to jump 60 feet.
In 1995 Jonathan won the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year. He retired from competitive athletics in 2003 and has since followed a career in the media, presenting and commentating for BBC, Channel 4, and Eurosport television covering at various times athletics, cycle racing, Winter Olympics, Paralympics, aquatics, and cycling.
As a member of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), Jonathan represented athletes taking part in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Although no longer taking part in competitive sport, he is an advocate of physical activity for a health and happiness, echoing the mantra of WOS founder, William Penny Brookes. Jonathan is a keen recreational cyclist and regularly opens Wenlock Olympian Games at the Live Arts Festival held each March.