Records

Form, fitness, opportunity, inspiration — they all came together for Britain’s Jonathan Edwards in the summer of 1995. His sights were set firmly on the 18m barrier — and he smashed it when he hopped, skipped and jumped to an incredible 18.43m in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France.

The wind gauge denied him a world record on that occasion, but he’d officially broken it by the time of the World Championships, having jumped 17.98m in Salamanca, Spain.

His best, however, was still to come. His first jump — 18.16m — blew the rest of the field away and shattered his own record. His second jump, with Edwards still clearly on a huge high, was a phenomenal 18.29m. The world title — and immortality — was his.

There must have been something in the air. Three days after Jonathan Edwards had set a monumental men’s world record, Inessa, a former long jumper from Ukraine, did the same for womankind.

The women’s triple jump was only recognised by the IAAF in 1990 and Kravets began training extensively for the new discipline that year. She broke the world record in 1991 (14.95m) and won silver at the 1992 Olympics. The record slipped from her grasp in 1993, though, and she also received a three-month drugs ban that year.

Competing at the 1995 World Championships, Kravets had everything to gain. But things didn’t look promising. She was struggling and had only one more attempt to secure a medal. She jumped 15.50m, 41cm further than the previous world record and more than enough to win gold.

Sadly, she was banned again for drugs offences in 2000.