Jye's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Athletics
Event: 1500m
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Highlights: 7th in 1500m heat at Tokyo 2020
Coach: Dick Telford
Year Born: 1998
State Born: NSW
About Jye
Jye Edwards began competing in Athletics at six years of age, alongside his three siblings at Albion Park Little Athletics Club.
He grew up in an athletic family, with each sibling trying their hand at several different sports.
Jye was a keen cricketer. By the time he was a teenager he noticed some substantial improvements in his running, so he began to focus on it full time and joined the Bankstown Sports Athletics club.
He suffered with injury in 2017 onwards, needing surgery on his Achilles in November of that year, then had a bad run of knee injuries, stress fractures, a calf strain and shin splints. During that time, he wasn't able to compete for longer than a couple of months without injury. Then, in 2020, he had a breakthrough winning the Albie Thomas Mile in 3:57.30.
At the Box Hill Classic in 2021 Jye came within half a second of an Olympic qualifier in the 1500m with a winning time of 3:35.46. Then at the 2021 Australian Track and Field Championships he claimed gold again, this time in 3:33.99, earning him an Olympic qualifier.
Tokyo 2020 was his first major international championship. Jye finished strong in the home straight of his heat, showing he belonged on the world stage, but missed out on a top six automatic qualifying spot, placing seventh in a time of 3:42.62.
Post Tokyo have been challenging years for Edwards with more injuries. It started with a stress reaction in his femur, followed by an 18-month Achilles battle that ultimately led to surgery in September 2023. He has navigated through extensive rehabilitation blocks, cortisone injections and soreness to get over to Europe in both 2022 and 2023. “Unfortunately, my body wasn't ready for the demand this sport requires to get through training and racing at the elite level.”
In late 2023, two months post Achilles surgery he has been progressing well and working to become a more resilient athlete, leading to less injury issues.
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