Eddie the Eagle

Michael Edwards (born 5 December 1963), better known as Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, was the first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping and was the British ski jumping record holder. He was also the world number nine in amateur speed skiing (106.8mph) and the stunt jumping world record holder (10 cars/6 buses).

Background

Edwards was born in Cheltenham, England. A good downhill skier, he narrowly missed out on the GB team for that event for the 1984 Games. In order to improve his chances to qualify for 1988, he moved to Lake Placid in the US to train and enter races of a higher standard; however, he soon found himself short on funds. In order to realise his Olympic dream he decided to switch to ski jumping for reasons of cost and easier qualification with no other competing British ski jumpers. As of 1 February 2010 Eddie the eagle plays for portsmouth football club

Eddie began jumping under the watchful eye of Chuck Berghorn in Lake Placid, NY, using his equipment though he had to wear six layers of socks to make the boots fit. Edwards was handicapped by his weight - at about 82 kg (181 lb), more than 9 kg (20 lb) heavier than the next heaviest competitor - and by his lack of financial support for training - he was totally self-funded. Another problem was that he was very short sighted, requiring him to wear his glasses at all times, even though when skiing they fogged to such an extent that he could not see. Eddie was informed of his qualification for the Games whilst working as a plasterer and residing temporarily in a Finnish mental hospital due to lack of funds for alternative accommodation (rather than as a patient). Edwards first represented Great Britain at the 1987 World Championships, and was ranked 55th in the world and this performance qualified him, as the sole British applicant, for the 1988 Winter Olympics ski jumping competition.

1988 Olympics

He finished last in both the 70 m and 90 m events. From the beginning, though, his legend was embroidered with falsehoods.

They said I was afraid of heights. But I was doing 60 jumps a day then, which is hardly something someone who was afraid of heights would do.
... But was he afraid of jumping?
Of course I was. There was always a chance that my next jump would be my last. A big chance.

— The Guardian, 3 September 2007

However, his lack of success endeared him to people all across the globe. The worse he did, the more popular he became. He subsequently became a media celebrity and appeared on talk shows around the world, appearing on the Johnny Carson Show during the Games. The press nicknamed him "Mr. Magoo", and one Italian journalist called him a "ski dropper".

The widespread attention that Edwards received in Calgary turned into a large embarrassment for the ski jumping establishment. Many athletes and officials felt that he was 'making a mockery' of the sport. Shortly after the Olympics finished, the entry requirements were greatly toughened, making it next to impossible for anyone to follow his example.

At the closing ceremony the president of the Organising Committee, Frank King, seemed to single out Edwards for his contribution: "At this Games some competitors have won gold, some have broken records and some of you have even soared like an eagle." At that moment, 100,000 people in the stadium roared 'Eddie! Eddie!'. It was the first time in the history of the games that an individual athlete had been mentioned in the closing speech.

Best in Britain

Edwards was the best ski jumper in the United Kingdom, setting a British record of 73.5m in one of his Calgary jumps in 1988.

Creative efforts

Edwards subsequently released a book (and a video) called On the Piste. He recorded a song in Finnish entitled "Mun nimeni on Eetu" ("My name is Eetu"), though he does not speak Finnish. Eddie's less-than-perfect pronunciation added to its appeal. Later, he recorded another Finnish-language song: "Eddien Siivellä" ("On Eddie's Wing"). Both of these songs were composed and written by a popular Finnish artist Irwin Goodman.

Commercial success

Edwards appeared in a number of advertising campaigns, e.g. on television, promoting cars. He was able to command fees of £10,000 an hour. Nevertheless, he declared bankruptcy in 1992, claiming a trust fund for his earnings was not set up properly. He earned a degree in law at De Montfort University in Leicester. "I've been interested in law since taking out a civil action against my trustees 10 years ago," he remarked in a 2001 interview.

For several years in the early 2000s, he co-hosted a Sunday morning show with Trish Campbell on BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

In December 2006, he appeared on Five's The Gadget Show, testing new skiing gadgets with one of the presenters.

He appeared on BBC1's The One Show on November 20 2008 in a film celebrating "The Great British Underdog" in the wake of John Sergeant's resignation from Strictly Come Dancing

In January 2010 Eddie advertised Churchill car insurance, the adverts being aired to coincide with him carrying the Olympic Torch on January 7th 2010.

The Eddie "The Eagle" Rule

In response to the Edwards phenomenon, in 1990, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) instituted what became known as the Eddie the Eagle Rule, which requires Olympic hopefuls to compete in international events and place in the top 30 percent or the top 50 competitors, whichever is the lesser.

Edwards consequently failed to qualify for the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, and the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. He managed to get a 5-year sponsorship from Eagle Airlines, a small British charter company serving Guernsey, in order to fund his attempt to reach the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. However, he failed to qualify for the games in Nagano as well.

Planned biopic

A film chronicling the life story of Edwards has been planned by Irish director Declan Lowney since 2007. Comedian Steve Coogan was originally slated for the title role. Edwards was said to be pleased with the choice but also joked that Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise would be better suited for the role. In 2009, Lowney announced that Rupert Grint would instead play the role. The film is scheduled to begin production once Grint has completed work on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Return to Calgary

On 13 February 2008, Edwards made a return visit to Calgary to take part in festivities marking the 20th anniversary of the games. During his visit, he rode the zip-line ride at Canada Olympic Park with a member of the Jamaican Bobsled Team (the ride simulates the speed of a ski-jumper) and led a procession of skiers down the slopes of the park, carrying an Olympic torch.

2010 Torchbearer

Edwards was chosen as a torchbearer in the relay for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He ran with the torch on January 7, 2010, in Winnipeg.

See also

• Eric "the Eel" Moussambani, another famously unsuccessful Olympian
• Philip Boit
• Vinko Bogataj

External links

• BBC Gloucestershire interview with Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards (Feb. 2008)
• Video Interview with Eddie Edwards (CBC Television; Broadcast Feb. 24, 1988)
• Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards: Anecdotes
• Interview