:00:14. > :00:19.boy. That is Now on BBC News, it's By the end of this week, the London
:00:19. > :00:23.Olympic Games will be under way. The whole will be watching. It is a
:00:23. > :00:28.special interest for Jonathan Edwards he won triple jump gold at
:00:28. > :00:35.the Sydney Games in 2000. His war record in the event still stands
:00:36. > :00:41.after 17 years. No-one is likely to get anywhere near. He is
:00:41. > :00:51.representing the athletes on the Games' organising committee. What
:00:51. > :01:23.
:01:23. > :01:29.Jonathan Edwards, welcome to this special edition. In 2003, you in --
:01:29. > :01:38.were involved in the bid team. We are in the final stage in the
:01:38. > :01:45.build-up to the Games. What are you expecting? It feels very different
:01:45. > :01:50.from what it did in 2003. I am a different person. I retired after
:01:50. > :01:58.nine years -- I have retired or nine years. It is a privilege to be
:01:58. > :02:04.inside the Games, as opposed to being an athlete. To take it from
:02:05. > :02:14.that base and stage... More hope than expectation... Paris was a
:02:15. > :02:15.
:02:15. > :02:25.clear favourite. But was a slow build-up towards Singapore. And to
:02:25. > :02:25.
:02:25. > :02:35.have a better comprehension of what it takes to put on a Games. Why has
:02:35. > :02:35.
:02:35. > :02:44.hope changed to expectation? every stage in this project, it has
:02:44. > :02:48.been on time and budget. Olympic Park has been a brilliant success.
:02:48. > :02:56.This was a regeneration project at heart. The Mayor of London decided
:02:56. > :03:01.to back the bid. The way that project has been bought in has
:03:02. > :03:11.given us reasons to believe that previous Games have failed. Or
:03:12. > :03:18.
:03:18. > :03:22.What boxers does London have to take to make it affectionately
:03:22. > :03:28.remembered as past Olympics like Sidney? I think it is the tone of
:03:28. > :03:37.the game. When people turn up to Kings Cross, and it is free
:03:37. > :03:42.transport and forget across the other big part. What is the
:03:42. > :03:49.transport like? What are the volunteers like? I like the one an-
:03:49. > :03:54.quality of the volunteers. I remember being jet lag and fed up
:03:54. > :04:01.and meeting the volunteers. It changed my perspective. That is
:04:01. > :04:07.important. And the smooth running of the sporting event. Athlete gets
:04:07. > :04:11.where they are supposed to be. The simple nuts and bolts. What an
:04:11. > :04:17.athlete needs for top level performance is the same for every
:04:17. > :04:22.country. You want decent food, accommodation, curtains to keep the
:04:22. > :04:27.light out to sleep whenever you want to. You need great transport
:04:27. > :04:34.and volunteers. All these things are common to all athletes. Let me
:04:34. > :04:40.read you a coat -- quote from the Independent newspaper. It is an
:04:40. > :04:46.important one. He said it is the most important competition of your
:04:46. > :04:55.life and he these advantageous. -- in the least advantageous
:04:55. > :05:05.conditions. In Sydney, the technical manual says that the room
:05:05. > :05:08.
:05:08. > :05:18.should be no smaller than 12 or 13 square metres. That is a big guide.
:05:18. > :05:24.
:05:24. > :05:34.And before -- the night before I We have to make it as good as we
:05:34. > :05:38.
:05:38. > :05:44.can. In Sydney, he called it off war. -- awful. I do not say that.
:05:44. > :05:51.What did you say? I said all the things but not in the same order in
:05:51. > :05:59.the same sentence. Maybe it is a case for telling competitors that
:05:59. > :06:03.they should move out. The Swedish national -- Swedish Olympic
:06:03. > :06:10.Committee does that. They say it is a place to stay and not a place to
:06:10. > :06:14.party. The IOC had a different perspective. It is the magic of the
:06:14. > :06:19.village which makes the Olympics what it is. What about the
:06:19. > :06:26.superstars? The ones who have already travelled the world and
:06:26. > :06:32.stayed in five-star hotels. No-one is compelled to stay in the village.
:06:32. > :06:37.But should they be? I will always respect the athletes' right to
:06:37. > :06:44.choose what is best for them. It is not just a case of being in the
:06:44. > :06:53.village and putting up with a small bed or someone hitting the ball and
:06:53. > :06:58.waking you up. Every single athlete wants to have his autograph. That
:06:58. > :07:05.is the big issue for the superstars. They are celebrities within that
:07:05. > :07:11.athlete community. That is what they need to get away from.
:07:11. > :07:18.have been intimate Olympics, won gold and saw four. You are looking
:07:18. > :07:25.out my first two where I do not qualify. OK. In at Lancer, you were
:07:25. > :07:33.already a world champion. -- Atlanta. You were a bag of nerves.
:07:33. > :07:41.Your wife suggested you return home. These are strange psychological
:07:41. > :07:46.state to be in before competition. Maybe it is common. Looking back on
:07:46. > :07:56.it, the funniest moment was when I was in my room and a blunter,
:07:56. > :07:56.
:07:56. > :08:05.Malcolm Arnold came to check on me. -- Atlanta. I was somewhat
:08:05. > :08:12.emotional in my room. I was not looking in a good state. I felt
:08:12. > :08:18.under huge pressure. The year before was such a sea-change in my
:08:18. > :08:24.career. Up until that point, I had been a good international athlete.
:08:24. > :08:32.I won a bronze medal in Stuttgart. I had been to Commonwealth Games. I
:08:32. > :08:42.was there and they're about. I had never dreamed that I would be --
:08:42. > :08:47.
:08:47. > :08:52.made the award champion but not a People expected me to turn up and
:08:52. > :08:56.simple. simple. The brilliant Kenny
:08:56. > :09:02.Harrison beat me. I knew he would be in great shape. I found it hard
:09:02. > :09:06.to come to terms with that level of pressure. Happier times in Sydney.
:09:06. > :09:11.Happier because you won the gold. But my mother-in-law passed away
:09:11. > :09:20.beforehand. Once again, the psychological environment in which
:09:21. > :09:26.he competed was very disturbed. was. In Sydney, half a way around
:09:26. > :09:31.he world, not sleeping well. Feeling the pressure of 34 years
:09:31. > :09:39.old was not going to end up retired without an Olympic gold medal. I
:09:39. > :09:45.jumped OK that year but not brilliantly. It was not the best of
:09:45. > :09:48.Let me take you to the moment before that Olympic final. What is
:09:48. > :09:54.it like, if your head, if you like, what is it like in the moments
:09:54. > :09:59.before your first jump in an Olympic final? In a way the moment
:09:59. > :10:03.before the first jump, they are the most - ser convenient would be the
:10:03. > :10:07.wrong word but you have something to get hold of and to foi cuss on.
:10:07. > :10:10.The worst bit is the waiting. It is the getting up in the morning of
:10:10. > :10:16.the final and thinking I have another seven or eight hours to go
:10:16. > :10:23.and trying to kill that time. do you kill thyme? Well, you know I
:10:23. > :10:28.don't know what I did. I think I read Lord of the Rings while I was
:10:28. > :10:37.in Sydney. My boys gave me one of these little game boys, Nintendo
:10:37. > :10:46.things and I think I went through all the Sonic the Hedge hog levels.
:10:46. > :10:53.Lord of the Rings and sonic the Hedge hog. Yes, it is an
:10:53. > :10:56.interesting mix. I think I went for a cough tea, had a chat, nothing
:10:56. > :11:00.really. So actually getting out, stripped off this is what you are
:11:00. > :11:06.prepared to do. It is not easy, but it is like, OK, it is in my hand
:11:06. > :11:10.now I have to get on and do it. for taking your mind off it for
:11:10. > :11:14.seven to eight hours and then switching your mind to it it is an
:11:14. > :11:19.extraordinary transition, isn't it? It is. And I didn't have any
:11:19. > :11:26.mechanism to do it, I just did it. You loved to beat people didn't
:11:26. > :11:32.you? I mean, what changes for me was becoming the world record
:11:32. > :11:41.holder. I think I hardly felt prouder in my career than when I
:11:41. > :11:48.got the bronze medal in Stuttgart and I stood on the podium, and Mike
:11:48. > :11:51.Connelly had got a gold medal and I hardly felt prouder as a person
:11:51. > :11:56.getting the bronze medal then because that for me was, I think at
:11:56. > :12:01.that point in time, as good as I could do. It was the upper limit of
:12:01. > :12:08.my achievement. It wasn't always about winning because I knew I
:12:08. > :12:12.couldn't beat those two, but once I jumped 1, 29 it did come about
:12:12. > :12:16.winning. The expectation was that I would win and jump a long way.
:12:16. > :12:20.Going into competitions after that did become a different challenge
:12:20. > :12:25.psychologically. I put in a good jump first round and second round
:12:25. > :12:28.and then I would wait to see if somebody went past me. If someone
:12:28. > :12:34.went past me the adrenaline would flow and I would get another 20 or
:12:34. > :12:44.30cm and it was a wonderful feeling. You have already mentioned the
:12:44. > :12:50.world record, 18m, 29cm established in governmenten berg in 1995. It is
:12:50. > :12:59.a world record that still stands. We talked on this programme to Bob
:12:59. > :13:09.Beaman about his long jump, 2 feet 2-and-a-half, talking in old money
:13:09. > :13:11.
:13:11. > :13:20.then. He talked of a Cataplectic seizure. He said that propelled him.
:13:20. > :13:25.That moment in Gothenberg was there something other worldly about it
:13:25. > :13:32.because you literally flu? thing was I jumped further than
:13:32. > :13:37.that in the European cup maybe eight weeks earlier, I did 18m 43
:13:37. > :13:41.wind assists and that obviously didn't count for record purposes
:13:41. > :13:47.because the wind was too strong. Were they better jumps in a way?
:13:47. > :13:51.really interesting mix. I think I was faster in Gothenberg and
:13:51. > :13:56.flatter off the ground. For the European Cup I hopped and stepped a
:13:56. > :14:00.lot further. I think if you combined the two I would have
:14:00. > :14:07.probably gone about 18m 90. They were different jumps but both very,
:14:07. > :14:11.very well balanced. I went to Gothenberg knowing if I jumped well
:14:11. > :14:17.I would break the world record. It was never racking - the fact that I
:14:17. > :14:21.was in the group of achievers made it much easier to deal with it. I
:14:21. > :14:25.remember Colin Jackson wasn't running but he said just try to
:14:25. > :14:28.enjoy this moment because you mindn't have it again. And he was
:14:28. > :14:31.right. I never had the opportunity again in the shape that I was in.
:14:31. > :14:35.And in the second round there is a lovely moment - and I can't
:14:35. > :14:39.remember it so much from being there but from now watching it on
:14:39. > :14:44.TV as I have watched it so many times when I smile and I do this
:14:44. > :14:48.and say, "Right, I think I can jump - I through is a bit more in my
:14:48. > :14:53.legs today" and I knew it in my hop and my step there is just that
:14:53. > :14:56.moment when you fly and when I had landed in the pit I just stood up,
:14:56. > :15:00.got up and went, yeah, I knew it was a world record. They didn't
:15:00. > :15:03.have to measure. You didn't have to look at the sign. How jealously do
:15:03. > :15:07.you guard that world record? I think you described it as your
:15:07. > :15:11.property, your own property? years is a long time and I get so -
:15:12. > :15:15.I was at the UK trials for the Olympics this last weekend and you
:15:15. > :15:19.get the start sheet for the men's triple jump and of course my man's
:15:19. > :15:23.name is at the top, world record, British record, stadium record and
:15:23. > :15:29.it is a nice thing. Who wouldn't want to be the world record holder?
:15:29. > :15:34.I think for me probably because I still hold it it maybe mean as
:15:34. > :15:39.little bit more than the Olympic title. Lots of people have won an
:15:39. > :15:42.Olympic triple jump title. Nobody has jumped 18m 29. When somebody
:15:42. > :15:47.does jump over that distance it will be a slightly different
:15:47. > :15:51.viewpoint on it but at the moment that is like, I look at my skinny
:15:51. > :15:56.legs and I think - I go to schools and the kids look at my skinny legs
:15:56. > :16:00.and think that can't be right. There are a number of world-class
:16:00. > :16:04.athletes who allow us a glimpse into their personal lives some
:16:04. > :16:08.times in glossy magazines. Few have been as public about her faith as
:16:08. > :16:12.you have. Why were you so keen to identify yourself as a Christian.
:16:12. > :16:19.was a Christian first and foremost. It was what defined me. Before
:16:19. > :16:23.being an athlete? Before being an athlete. I saw my life as an out
:16:23. > :16:30.working of my commitment to God, whether it was doing my studies or
:16:30. > :16:33.being part of a church or being an athlete. In part, certainly I was
:16:33. > :16:37.an Evan gelcal Christian and I thought it gave me a great platform,
:16:37. > :16:40.not to force my faith down people's necks but to say this is what I
:16:40. > :16:44.believe and it is something that everybody should think about and
:16:44. > :16:52.come to a decision on. Whether they choose to believe or not is up to
:16:52. > :16:57.them but as a Evangelica l Christian it is a message I had to
:16:57. > :16:59.give. There was a suggestion in 2007 that it was partly because you
:16:59. > :17:04.decided that you would compete on a Sunday and that somehow said
:17:04. > :17:09.something to you about your faith, would that be fair? No, I said the
:17:09. > :17:14.Sunday issue had been resolved quite a listening time before hand
:17:14. > :17:18.when I first started I had the never on a Sunday, the whole Eric
:17:18. > :17:24.Little resonance but in 1993 I made the decision to jump on a Sunday.
:17:24. > :17:28.The hard thing about that decision was not the thee logical issues
:17:28. > :17:32.about was was it right or Wong but who would people think. Would they
:17:32. > :17:39.look at me and think I had compromised my faith. In the end I
:17:39. > :17:43.made that decision. 2007 a public renouncement, when I retired in
:17:43. > :17:49.2003 I did start to question my faith and eventually lost it, but I
:17:49. > :17:52.didn't want to suddenly stand up and say, "I don't believe any more"
:17:52. > :17:58.and yet I wanted to be true to myself. The thing came out to the
:17:58. > :18:01.open because I was a presenter of Songs of Praise, a very high-
:18:01. > :18:04.profile Christian programme, a high-profile Christian. I didn't
:18:05. > :18:08.feel like I could do that so I stepped down from that and that is
:18:08. > :18:10.the point in time that it became public knowledge. It needed to
:18:10. > :18:14.become public knowledge but I didn't think it was appropriate to
:18:14. > :18:20.call a press conference and say, "Hey, I don't believe any more".
:18:20. > :18:24.When faith drains away like that it must be a very difficult experience.
:18:24. > :18:28.For me personally it hasn't been and that stocks me. It was
:18:28. > :18:33.everything to me and now it is not there at all -- shocks me. It was
:18:33. > :18:39.everything to me and now is it not there at all and I feel perfectly
:18:39. > :18:43.fine. At this stage in my life I feel has happy has I have ever been.
:18:43. > :18:47.That is where I am in terms of belief at the moment. So no for me
:18:47. > :18:51.it was like, OK, I don't believe it. I am going to live my life this way
:18:51. > :18:55.now and be true to that. Harder for people around me, for my wife, my
:18:55. > :19:01.parents particularly, my dad being a retired Victoria car. That has
:19:01. > :19:05.been a challenge for them without any question - Vicar. That has been
:19:05. > :19:10.a challenge for them without any question but you have to live your
:19:10. > :19:15.life. Finally let me say it is the age-old question, how will you feel
:19:15. > :19:19.at the opening ceremony? I think because I am part of the organising
:19:19. > :19:23.committee I am hoping it is not going to go wrong! (Laughs)
:19:23. > :19:27.don't have any serious doubts about it, do you? No, but I have never
:19:27. > :19:30.been in the position where you are kind of the guys who are putting
:19:30. > :19:33.the show on. I sit on the board of the organising committee. If there
:19:33. > :19:38.was something to be something that went wrong it is on our watch.
:19:38. > :19:42.This this is your fear of failure again. Maybe that is it. When I
:19:42. > :19:48.jump and I talked about that, you stnd on the runway and that the's
:19:48. > :19:52.yegs bit, the bit you have trained for but you kol it - the easiest
:19:52. > :19:55.bit, the business you have obtained for. But you control it. There are
:19:55. > :20:02.very few variables. Somebody jumps a bit further than you or the wind
:20:02. > :20:05.or the rain or whatever, but with a work force of 200,000 working to
:20:05. > :20:08.the organising committee - it is like having a child who has left
:20:08. > :20:12.home and you don't know what they are doing but you have to trust
:20:12. > :20:17.they are doing the right thing. Just like when a child leaves home,
:20:17. > :20:22.maybe in will be a tear or two? will be crying without any question.
:20:22. > :20:26.I cried like a baby when I carried the torch I was in my home town,
:20:26. > :20:31.right outside the house where I was brought up. But there as well there
:20:31. > :20:36.was this kind of coming towards the end of a journey which has take ten
:20:36. > :20:40.most part of my life since I have retired. It has been like a
:20:40. > :20:44.surrogate athletics career and I believed it in passion fately. I
:20:44. > :20:49.have loved every minute of it and it is coming to an end but I want
:20:49. > :20:53.it is coming to an end but I want to it be right. Probably the most
:20:53. > :20:57.significant moment in me getting involved in 2012 was what happened
:20:57. > :21:02.in Sydney, having watched what happened to Cathy Freeman and the
:21:02. > :21:06.sense of national pride. I want this to be right because I want the
:21:06. > :21:09.nation to be proud. The athletes gold medal performances will give a
:21:09. > :21:12.point in time for the public to celebrate but is it not just the
:21:12. > :21:16.performance, it is the whole thing of what we have done as a nation.