Watch Edwards at Olympics;
FSU gave him a jump start

By Larry Keough
FSU Communications Group

When British Olympian Jonathan Edwards arrived at Florida State a little more than a year ago, nobody expected him to be the next world record holder in the triple jump.

Edwards was recovering from the Epstein-Barr virus, a cause of mononucleosis. His last outing had been disastrous - he failed to break the qualifying barrier of 52 feet, 6 inches, at the 1994 Grand Prix finals.

Edwards wanted to rebuild his health and confidence and improve on his longest jump - 57 feet, 2 3 /4 inches, nearly 21 inches shy of the world mark.

Within two weeks, he found a psychological boost, technical analysis and a friendship, all from FSU assistant track coach Dennis Nobles.

"I think Jonathan kind of surprised himself over here with some pretty good jumps," says Nobles, who coaches FSU's triple jumpers. "But it was unrealistic to believe that he would improve by half a meter and set a world record after basically taking a year off."

But Edwards did. He returned to London in March. In June at the European Cup in France, he performed as no triple jumper ever had. Twice, he leaped more than 60 feet, only to be kept out of the record books by a persistent following wind.

But on July 18 in Salamanca, Spain, he officially eclipsed Willie Banks' world record by a quarter inch with a jump of 58 feet, 11 3/4 inches. And in August at the World Championships in Goteborg, Sweden, he beat his own record twice in one night, jumping 60 feet, 1/4 inch.

Edwards describes his Tallahassee stay as a pit stop on the road to his world-record performance.

"The warm weather in Tallahassee helped in my convalescence from the virus, and my relationship with Dennis provided me with the mental outlook to take the next step in my athletic progression," Edwards says.

The British Olympic Association chose Tallahassee as a training site because the weather is similar to the heat and humidity of Atlanta, where the 1996 Olympic Games will be played.

Nobles, a former Seminole pole vaulter, was careful not to make too many changes in Edwards' jumping mechanics.

"I made suggestions after he expressed some dissatisfaction with the pumping action of his arms and how that affected his legs when he was in his jump," Nobles says.

He worked on raising Edwards' torso on his takeoff, holding the hop and step - two of the steps in the triple jump - and improving the pumping action.

But it was an unexpected meeting that forged their friendship. Edwards scanned the phone book's list of churches and selected Grace Church, where Nobles attends.

"I believe there was a divine influence in Jonathan selecting from a list of 200 churches in Tallahassee the one that I attend," Nobles says. "Our relationship goes a lot deeper than talking about training and technique."

Nobles and Edwards discovered they are husbands and fathers who share beliefs about devotion to family. Nobles, 38, and his wife, Vicki, have a daughter, Sally. Edwards, 29, and his wife, Alison, have two sons, Samuel and Nathan.

Nobles used biomechanics and exercise physiology to calculate that a longer takeoff would produce a world record for Edwards.

"I remember Dennis telling me that I could set the world record and I said, 'Don't be silly,' " Edwards says.