Michael David Edwards (born 5 December 1963),[1] better known as Eddie the Eagle, is an English ski jumper and Olympian who in 1988 became the first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping, finishing last in the Normal Hill and Large Hill events. He held the British ski jumping record from 1988 to 2001. He also took part in amateur speed skiing, running at 106.8km/h (66.4mph), and became a stunt jumping world record holder for jumping over 6 buses.[2]
Edwards was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. His family calls him by his given name, Michael. "Eddie" is a nickname derived by schoolfriends from his surname.[3] After a taste of skiing on a school trip aged 13, he developed his skills on dry slopes, then worked for a season at Glenshee in Scotland.[4] Having not made the grade as a downhill skier, he switched to ski jumping as there were no other British ski jumpers with whom to compete for a place.[5]
Edwards began jumping under the supervision of John Viscome and Chuck Berghorn[6] in Lake Placid, New York, using Berghorn's equipment, although he had to wear six pairs of socks to make the boots fit. He was disadvantaged by his weight—at about 82 kilograms (181 pounds; 12stone 13pounds), more than 9kg (20lb) heavier than the next heaviest competitor—and by his lack of financial support for training, being totally self-funded.[7] Another problem was that he was very far-sighted, wearing thick glasses under his goggles, which would mist up at altitude.[7]
Edwards first represented Great Britain at the 1987 World Championships in Oberstdorf in Bavaria, West Germany, and was ranked 55th in the world. This performance qualified him as the sole British applicant for the 1988 Winter Olympics ski jumping competition. He received confirmation of his qualification for the games while working as a plasterer and temporarily residing in a Finnish mental hospital, due to lack of funds for alternative accommodation rather than as a patient.[8]
1988 Winter Olympics
During the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary Edwards competed in and finished last in both the 70m and 90m events. In the 70m, he scored 69.2 points from two jumps of 61.0 m; second-last Bernat Solà Pujol of Spain scored 140.4 points from 71m and 68.5m jumps; winner Matti Nykänen of Finland had 229.1 points from 89.5 m jumps. In the 90m, Edwards scored 57.5 points from 71 m and 67m jumps; third-last Todd Gilman of Canada had 110.8 points from 96m and 86.5m; Nykänen won again, with 224 points from 118.5m and 107m.[9]
From the beginning, the press version of his story was "embroidered with falsehoods".[10] Edwards commented, "They said I was afraid of heights. But I was doing sixty jumps a day then, which is hardly something someone who was afraid of heights would do."[10]
His lack of success endeared him to people around the globe. He subsequently became a media celebrity and appeared on talk shows around the world, appearing on The Tonight Show during the Games. The press nicknamed him "Mr. Magoo", and one Italian journalist called him a "ski dropper".[11]
At the closing ceremony, the president of the Organising Committee, Frank King, singled out Edwards for his contribution. King said, addressing the competitors, "You have broken world records and you have established personal bests. Some of you have even soared like an eagle."[12]
Edwards' jump of 71m at the Winter Olympics was then a British record (now 134.50m held by Halifax-born Sam Bolton). His Olympic jump still puts him sixth on the all-time list of British ski jumpers.
"Eddie the Eagle" Rule
Following the widespread attention that Edwards received in Calgary shortly after the Olympics finished, the entry requirements were made stricter, making it nearly impossible for anyone to follow his example: 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 be placed in the top 30 percent or the top 50 competitors, whichever is fewer.[13]
On 13 February 2008, Edwards made a return visit to Calgary to take part in festivities marking the twentieth anniversary of the Games. During his visit, he rode the zip-line 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 while carrying an Olympic torch.[14][15]
Edwards released a book (and a video) called On the Piste.[17] In 1991, he recorded a single in Finnish entitled "Mun nimeni on Eetu" ("My name is Eetu"), B-sided with "Eddien Siivellä" ("On Eddie's Wing"), though he does not speak Finnish. Edwards learned the lyrics phonetically and the song reached No. 2 in the Finnish charts.[18] "Mun nimeni on Eetu" was written by Finnish singer Irwin Goodman.[19]
In the same year (1991), Edwards completed a charity ski jump at a ski slope in Christchurch, Dorset. He raised £23,000 for BBC Children in Need by jumping over 10 cars using a ski jump made of scaffolding.
Edwards appeared in a number of advertising campaigns, e.g. on television, promoting cars, and commanded fees of £10,000 an hour. Nevertheless, he declared bankruptcy in 1992, claiming that a trust fund for his earnings was not set up properly.[20] In 2003, he graduated from De Montfort University in Leicester with a degree in law.[21] "I've been interested in law since taking out a civil action against my trustees 10 years ago", he said in an interview in 2001.[22]
In 2013, he won the first series of the British celebrity diving programme Splash!, mentored by Tom Daley.[24]
In January 2014, he commentated on the Channel 4 TV programme The Jump,[25] where 12 famous people took part in winter sports.[26] As part of each episode, Edwards jumped off the largest of three ski jumps. In the same year, he appeared as a guest on the ITV2 comedy show Fake Reaction.
Edwards before his first jumps in 15 years at the site of the 1988 Winter Olympics
In 2017, he returned to the ski jumping facilities at Canada Olympic Park, where he had taken part in the Olympics in 1988, to make some jumps that were his first in over 15 years.[27]
In 2021, Edwards appeared on the UK version of The Masked Dancer masked as Rubber Chicken. He was the fourth celebrity to be unmasked.
In 2024, he appeared as a contestant on the sixteenth series of Dancing on Ice. Edwards was brought in as a replacement after Stephen Lustig-Webb was forced to withdraw from the series.[28] He was originally paired with Tippy Packard, but due to an injury she had to withdraw from the show before the competition took place. Vicky Ogden was brought in as a replacement for Packard.
A biopic chronicling the life story of Edwards had been planned by Irish director Declan Lowney since 2007. Comedian Steve Coogan was originally chosen for the title role,[29] but in 2009 Lowney announced that Rupert Grint would instead play the part. The film was scheduled to begin production once Grint completed work on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2, but did not go ahead.[30]
In March 2015, it was announced that 20th Century Fox had acquired the film, with Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman starring and Dexter Fletcher directing, from a screenplay by Sean Macaulay and Simon Kelton.[31][32][33] Egerton would portray the adult Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, Tom and Jack Costello younger versions of Edwards, while Jackman would portray his coach, Bronson Peary. It was later announced that Christopher Walken had also joined the film, portraying the role of Bronson Peary's mentor.[34]
The film, Eddie the Eagle, was released in early 2016 and grossed a worldwide total of $46.1 million. In the UK, it grossed $12.8m, making it the highest grossing British film of 2016.[35] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 82% based on 197 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10.[36]
See also
Eric Moussambani, Eric "the Eel", another famously unlikely Olympian
Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final score. Ski jumping was first contested in Norway in the late 19th century, and later spread through Europe and North America in the early 20th century. Along with cross-country skiing, it constitutes the traditional group of Nordic skiing disciplines.
Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, moguls, cross, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Winter Olympics. It can consist of a skier performing aerial flips and spins and can include skiers sliding rails and boxes on their skis. Known as "hot-dogging" in the early 1970s, it is also commonly referred to as freeskiing, jibbing, as well as many other names, around the world.
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Calgary 1988, were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the most recent time that two consecutive Olympic Games were hosted in North America. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to be held for 15 days, like the counterpart Summer Olympic Games. The majority of the events took place in Calgary itself. However, the snow events were shared by Nakiska ski resort in Kananaskis Country at the west of the city and the Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park in the town of Canmore.
Matti Ensio Nykänen was a Finnish ski jumper who competed from 1981 to 1991. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers of all time, having won five Winter Olympic medals, nine World Championship medals, and 22 Finnish Championship medals. Most notably, he won three gold medals at the 1988 Winter Olympics, becoming, along with Yvonne van Gennip of the Netherlands, the most medaled athlete that winter.
Espen Bredesen is a Norwegian former ski jumper.
Ski jumping at the 1988 Winter Olympics consisted of three events held from 14 February to 24 February, taking place at Canada Olympic Park. The Calgary Games featured the addition of a new event, the first program change since 1964, with the debut of the team event. Britain's Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards achieved celebrity by finishing last in both individual events, with less than half the points of the second-last competitor.
Canada was the host nation for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. It was the first time that Canada had hosted the Winter Olympic Games, and second time overall, after the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Vancouver would eventually host the 2010 Winter Olympics which makes it the second city in Canada to host the Winter Olympics and the third overall.
Noriaki Kasai is a Japanese ski jumper. His career achievements include a gold medal at the 1992 Ski Flying World Championships, winning the 1999 Nordic Tournament, individual silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and two individual bronze medals at the 2003 Ski Jumping World Championships.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It would be the last Winter Olympic Games before the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Six of the former Soviet republics would compete together as the Unified Team at the 1992 Winter Olympics, and each republic would be independently represented at subsequent Games.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland competed as Great Britain at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
France competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Frank Piccard won France's first Winter Olympic gold medal for 20 years.
Switzerland competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Finland competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
West Germany competed at the Winter Olympic Games for the last time as a separate nation at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Following German reunification in 1990, a single German team would compete in the 1992 Winter Olympics.
Poland competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Kamil Wiktor Stoch is a Polish ski jumper. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers in the history of the sport, having won two World Cup titles, three Four Hills Tournaments, three individual gold medals at the Winter Olympics, individual and team gold at the Ski Jumping World Championships, and individual silver at the Ski Flying World Championships. His other tournament wins include Raw Air (twice), the Willingen Five, and Planica7.
The men's normal hill individual ski jumping competition for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada was held on 12 and 13 February 2010 at Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, British Columbia. It was the first medal event of the 2010 Games.
Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes is a Canadian ski jumper.
Eddie the Eagle is a 2015 biographical sports comedy-drama film directed by Dexter Fletcher. The film stars Taron Egerton as Michael Edwards, a British skier who in 1988 became the first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping since 1928. Hugh Jackman, Christopher Walken, Iris Berben and Jim Broadbent co-star. The film had its first public screening at the Butt-Numb-A-Thon in Austin, Texas on December 12, 2015 and its world premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2016.
Eetu Nousiainen is a Finnish ski jumper. He competed in two events at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
↑ "Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards". UK After Dinner Speakers and Motivational Speakers. Now You're Talking. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
↑ McIntyre, Doug (14 February 2008). "Golden Memories Fired Up!". Calgary Sun. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
↑ Zip-line ride: Global News Calgary (television broadcast), 13 February 2008
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Great Britain 
