in his breakthrough year of 1995, he produced a jump of 18.43 m (60 feet 5½ inches) at the european cup. the leap was wind assisted and did not count for record purposes. but it was a sign of things to come as he capped an unbeaten year. he had a historic gold medal performance at the world championships. there he broke the world record twice in the same meet. on his first jump, he became the first man to legally pass the 18-metre barrier (18.16 m/59 feet 7 inches). that record lasted for about 20 minutes. his second jump of 18.29 m made him the first to jump 60 feet. during his commentary for the 2008 summer olympics, edwards said that during the 1995 world championships, he felt as if "he could jump as far as he needed to". later the same year edwards became the bbc sports personality of the year.