Paralympic high jumper says his appearance on a military-style reality show has allowed him to start realising his potential

Jonathan Broom-Edwards might only have competed in just one event during the 2023 season, but he still successfully defended his world T64 high jump crown.

In a similar fashion to Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Barshim at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the 35-year-old shared the top of the podium in a moment of great sportsmanship with long-term gold medal rival, Polands Maciej Lepiato.

Broom-Edwards is the reigning Paralympic champion in the event and the AW Male Para Athlete of the Year hopes to retain his gold medal in Paris next summer.

It was a shortened 2023 season but how do you reflect on the World Championships?

Getting to the championships, after suffering a hamstring injury eight weeks prior, was down to mental resilience. Thats been built on the experience Ive had in the few years prior to the Worlds.

Going through [reality TV programme] SAS: Who Dares Wins after winning the gold in Tokyo challenged my mind in a way that meant I realised the potential I had in my head. So when the hamstring injury struck I had to control the controllables. It was trying not to worry on the things I couldnt affect but making sure I did what I could to make it to the start line.

That competition in Paris turned out to be one of my best as I had a clean scorecard up to 2.05m. I can take so much from that into both Kobe [World Championships] and Paris [Paralympics].

We are going to double periodise next year and aim for two peaks for both of those championships. Fortunately, Ill have more competitions leading into the Paralympics.

How did the sharing of the two golds come about?

I think he [Lepiato] knew I was in a good place and if you look back my jump over 2.05m was a lot clearer than his was. He was straight up to say: Should we share it brother? Id cramped up at an earlier height and I didnt know, if I continued, that it might lead to something more serious.

I didnt know how much more my body could take and at that point I was thinking, was it worth risking a gold medal or have this moment of camaraderie with a rival who has been there from my first day and share it? It was a beautiful moment as were the same age, have been in the sport for 11 years and have overcome Achilles injuries.

How does it feel to be defending champion going into the Paralympics?

You will only ever get your best out of a competition within an environment where the atmosphere pumps up your adrenaline levels. Its a beast to be tamed in many ways and a while since Ive experienced that level of noise. I had that at London 2017 and it was incredible. You can feel the stadium.

I will utilise all of that as much as I can and I know it can help me deliver beyond my best. Its not about the competition but fulfilling my potential and making myself proud of a career that has spanned quite a few years now! I want to enjoy the Paralympics and see the occasion as a privilege.

Where does that mindset come from?

The adversity that Ive been subjected to, alongside the natural adversity of dealing with an impairment [talipes equinovarus clubbed foot]  a less visible impairment than typically recognised ones have shaped where Im at today.

Ive always taken the sport seriously but sometimes its been too much and Ive now got the perspective of enjoying it because it is fun.

SAS: Who Dares Wins also put me into a place that I didnt know I had in myself. The main example of that was when we were having to push a heavy jeep over two miles through the desert with loads of kit in it. I remember being in so much pain and every bit of me wanted to quit.

There was a moment, though, when I went from being in agony to all of the pain vanishing and feeling 50 times stronger. I remember producing this primal roar and we stepped up a gear. I felt stronger and it actually got me quite emotional because I wasnt sure where that came from. It was like a switch and in that moment made me realise the limiting factors the mind puts on us.

So when I went to the Worlds in Paris, I wasnt limited by fear and I felt I was the strongest athlete there because I was ignoring doubts that previously plagued me. Instead, I used that for fuel.