The fifth episode in the fourth series of this chat show presented by regional television personality Mike Neville. In this week edition Mike speaks with triple jump World Record holder and Olympic Gold Medallist Jonathan Edwards from the Gateshead International Stadium. Over the course of the programme the two talk about Jonathan’s career highs and lows, the importance of his family as well as his faith in God. Title: The Mike Neville Show Standing inside Gateshead International Stadium...

The fifth episode in the fourth series of this chat show presented by regional television personality Mike Neville. In this week edition Mike speaks with triple jump World Record holder and Olympic Gold Medallist Jonathan Edwards from the Gateshead International Stadium. Over the course of the programme the two talk about Jonathan’s career highs and lows, the importance of his family as well as his faith in God. Title: The Mike Neville Show Standing inside Gateshead International Stadium Mike Neville describes tonight’s guest as the son of a vicar who leapt into the record books more than five-years ago in Gothenburg. Born in the south he is now an adopted Geordie after making Tyneside his home after graduating from Durham University. A Tyne Tees Television news clip of triple jumper Jonathan Edwards steps of an airplane at Newcastle Airport and holding up his gold medal won at the 2000 Summer Olympics. In a room overlooking the stadium Jonathan begins by talking to Mike about his childhood and family life that featured a lot of sport. He talks about his happy schooldays and first encounter with ‘the sandpit’ on a ‘windswept playing fields of West Buckland School’ and how at that time he wanting to focus more on his academic work than sport. He talks about coming to Durham University to read Physics and meeting coach Carl Johnson at Gateshead Stadium where he became semi-serous about athletics. Jonathan talks about his closeknit family and the challenge for his parents to come to terms with his decision after leaving university to take up athletics full-time. He talks about his religious faith and his decision not to compete on Sundays and his surprise at how much the media picked up on this as an issue. He talks about being selected for the Seoul Olympics and it being a turning point for him with regards his resolve to train harder to make better use of the talent he had. Over a photograph of their wedding in 1990 Jonathan talks about wife Alison and laughs when it is pointed out that his marriage coincided with a slight dip in form. He admits his focus that year wasn’t on competing. He talks about being financially able to work part-time in order to spend more time training. Jonathan is asked about training for the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 alongside the likes of Kriss Akabusi and Roger Black in California and how it being paid for by the British Athletics Federation was an endorsement of their belief in his ability. He talks about why he believes things didn’t work out for him failing to quality for the finals and how it was a huge shock to his system. Mike provides details of some of Jonathans successes firstly at the International Association of Athletic Federation (IAFF) World Cup in Havana Cuba in 1992 and in the 1993 World Championships at Stuttgart in Germany and how it coincided with the birth of his son Sam. Jonathan provides details on the financial support he received from another Northeast Olympian Brendan Foster and how important this was for him and his family during this time. Title: The Mike Neville Show Coming back from the commercial break Jonathan is asked about 1995, the year that changed his life. He talks first about why 1994 wasn’t a good year before discussing becoming British record holder while taking part in a competition at Loughborough. Over BBC Television clips of the event Jonathan talks about competing in the 1995 World Athletics Championships at Gothenburg and becoming triple jump world record holder. Over clips from a Tyne Tees Television news item of his return from Gothenburg with a gold medal, he poses alongside wife Alison and their children while talking in voiceover about the media attention he and Alison received following his victory. As he talks about being able to keep the integrity of his family, a clip from the Tyne Tees Television series Jonathan’s Olympic Diary from 1996 featuring him playing with his children in the living room of his home. He talks about his family’s ordinary everyday existence in Northeast and how is sees the area as being very down to earth which he likes. Over a clip of Jonathan competing in the 1996 Summer Olympic in Atlanta he explains why he wasn’t disappointed at only winning silver. Talking about four years later and winning gold at the Sydney Olympics he explains why he had doubts beforehand. Another clip of Jonathan both competing in Sydney as well as him receiving his gold medal with him talking about the relief of winning and why it was important to him personally that he did. Brining the interview to an end Jonathan is asked about the future. He explains that while he sees it as a scary prospect, he has trust in God as he hasn’t let him down. Over the closing credits Jonathan and his family posing for the media following his victory at the 1995 World Athletics Championships. Credit: Title Music Alan Clark Make-Up Michael Birtley Electrician John Mason Sound Recordist Robbie Carruthers Lighting Cameraman Simon Elphinstone, Simon Ilston Dubbing Mixer John Cook Editor Bernard Helm Archive Research Richard Hall Associate Producer Barbara Buglass Executive Producer Graeme Thompson Producer Peter Mitchell End title: A Peter Mitchell production for Yorkshire/Tyne Tees Television. © Tyne Tees Television MMI