There have been many illustrious names grace our greens over the years, but none have a record to match Jo Edwards. Her five World and Commonwealth Games gold medals attest to that – Jo has been a giant of the sport on and off the green.
Edwards enjoyed a remarkable career encompassing a record 646 caps for the Blackjacks with her staggering array of medals and trophies, including an unprecedented six World Cup singles crowns. When she was asked to pinpoint favourite memories when she retired from the international stage in 2020, she said: “That’s tough, after 20 years in the full New Zealand team’ – but I am particularly proud of winning world titles on all surfaces (northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere and indoor), which requires remarkable versatility. Jo also looked back fondly on the 2008 World Championship pairs title in Christchurch alongside Val Smith. “We are best mates; we have known each other since school so that was pretty special.” Edwards is a natural athlete. It didn’t take her long to make her mark on the Nelson sport scene after her family moved to New Zealand when she was a 15-month-old. She represented the province in indoor and outdoor cricket, softball, football, touch rugby and age-group volleyball before picking up a bowl.
She was finally introduced to the sport as a 19-year-old in 1989 as part of a Nelson all-rounder competition, in which participants played 17 different codes in the month of May. With softball numbers dwindling bowls soon became her summer sport of choice. Football was still her winter love and she was in the New Zealand squad for the first half of the 90s, but a frustration at not being able to crack the team led her to call it quits in 1995. Football’s loss was bowls’ gain.
Record:
- Commonwealth Games: ’02 (pairs gold), ’14 (singles gold), ’18 (singles gold)
- World Bowls Championships: ’04 (pairs gold), ’08 (pairs gold), ’12 (pairs silver), ’16 (singles bronze), ’16 (pairs silver)
- Asia Pacific golds: ’01 (pairs), ’03 (fours), ’11 (pairs), ’11 (fours) ’19 (singles)
- World Bowls Champion of Champions: ’11, ’18
- World Bowls Indoor Championship: ’09, ’10, ’11, ’13, ’17, ’19
