Eddie the Eagle

Michael David Edwards (born 5 December 1963), 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 was disadvantaged by his weight—at about 82 kg (181 lb, 12st 13lb), more than 9 kg (20 lb) heavier than the next heaviest competitor—and by his lack of financial support for training, being totally self-funded.

Another problem was that he was very far-sighted, wearing thick glasses under his goggles, which would mist up at altitude.

Edwards first represented Great Britain at the 1987 World Championships in Oberstdorf in Bavaria, West Germany, and was ranked 55th in the world.

He held the British ski jumping record from 1988 to 2001.

He also took part in amateur speed skiing, running at 106.8 km/h, and became a stunt jumping world record holder for jumping over 6 buses.

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.

Edwards' jump of 71 m at Calgary in the Winter Olympics was then a British record (now 134.50 m held by Halifax-born Sam Bolton).

His Olympic jump still puts him sixth on the all-time list of British ski jumpers.

During the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary Edwards competed in and finished last in both the 70 m and 90 m events.

In the 70 m, he scored 69.2 points from two jumps of 61.0 m; second-last Bernat Solà Pujol of Spain scored 140.4 points from 71 m and 68.5 m jumps; winner Matti Nykänen of Finland had 229.1 points from 89.5 m jumps.

In the 90 m, Edwards scored 57.5 points from 71 m and 67 m jumps; third-last Todd Gilman of Canada had 110.8 points from 96 m and 86.5 m; Nykänen won again, with 224 points from 118.5 m and 107 m.

From the beginning, the press version of his story was "embroidered with falsehoods".

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."

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".

At the closing ceremony, the president of the Organizing Committee, Frank King, singled out Edwards for his contribution.

King said, looking at the competitors, "You have broken world records and you have established personal bests. Some of you have even soared like an eagle."

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.

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 № 2 in the Finnish charts.

The songs were written by Finnish singer Irwin Goodman.

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 failed to qualify for the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, or the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

He got a five-year sponsorship from Eagle Airlines, a small British charter company, to support his attempt to reach the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, but failed to qualify for those as well.

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.

Edwards was chosen as a torchbearer in the relay for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

He ran with the torch on 7 January 2010 in Winnipeg.

Edwards released a book (and a video) called On the Piste.

In 2016, he was portrayed by Taron Egerton and Tom and Jack Costello in the biographical film Eddie the Eagle.

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.

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.

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.

Edwards began jumping under the supervision of John Viscome and Chuck Berghorn in Lake Placid, New York, using Berghorn's equipment, although he had to wear six pairs of socks to make the boots fit.