Eddie the Eagle

CHELTENHAM STUNTMAN

Michael Edwards, better known as Eddie the Eagle, was born on December 5th 1963 in Cheltenham. He was working as a plasterer in Cheltenham when following his childhood dream to be a Hollywood stuntman he became Britain's first and only ski jumper and also the British national ski jumping record holder. His birthday ironically is still celebrated as a public holiday for casualty departments all over the world.

Although a very enthusiastic international alpine skier (at 106.8mph Eddie was world no. 9 in amateur speed-skiing), Eddie chose ski jumping because it was cheaper than any other form of skiing and also as there were no other competitors in this field in Britain, and as the sole British applicant, he was guaranteed a place in the Olympic team.

CALGARY 1988

He first represented Britain at 1987 World Championships in Oberstdorf where he came 98th in a field of 98. But it was the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988 which brought him fame. Although he finished 58th in the 70–metre jump (the last 59th competitor was disqualified) and last in the 90–metre jump, with his big glasses, which fogged when he was jumping, and sarcastic wit he became a media sensation. He was dubbed "Mr. Magoo" and the French press called him "le Benny Hill du ski", but he became the best loved athlete of that Olympics.

Even the president of the International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch, though privately critical of Edwards for appearing to mock the Games with his fish-out-of-water performance, seemed to embrace him during his speech at the closing ceremonies. "At Calgary people set new goals, created new world records, and some even flew like an eagle," he said in his speech and crowds started to cheer "Eddie, Eddie". It was the first time in the history of the Games that an individual athlete had been mentioned in the closing speech.

On his return, he had a huge "nonvictory" parade in Cheltenham. He became a celebrity, appearing on chat shows and even presenting Radio 5 programs. He released a book (and a video) called On the piste and a single Fly, Eddie, Fly which reached Top 50 in the UK. His song Mun Niemi On Eetu (My name is Eddie) made Number 2 in the charts in Finland.

EDDIE THE EAGLE RULE

Unfortunately, Eddie the Eagle, the true Olympian spirit, whose biggest victory was to take part, had its critics, who complained that Eddie was mocking the ski jumping sport and that the Olympics should be the showcase of sporting excellence. As a result of that 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 and therefore to repeat Eddie's spectacle became impossible.

Eddie consequently failed to qualify for the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, and the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, but 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. He decided to study law instead and enrolled at Leicester University. In March 2002, an American production company bought the exclusive film and TV rights to Eddie's story, so maybe sometime in the future we will be able to relive Eddie's moments of glory.