- Eddie Edwards dreamed of performing in the Olympics and tried to do so in two sports
- He did not succeed in this art in alpine skiing, so he decided to turn it into ski jumping
- He earned money to start competitions in different ways, but he managed to realize his dreams despite occupying the last positions in most of the competitions.
- He was such a colorful character that he made a fantasy movie about his career
- You can find more of these stories on the Onet homepage
Michael Thomas Edwards was born on December 5, 1963 in Cheltenham, southern Great Britain. He grew up in a working class family. His mother worked in a factory, and his father worked in a plasterer. His grandfather and grandfather also worked in the same profession. As it turned out later, he also began to deal with it.
The rest of the text is below the video
Didn’t start ski jumping
Eddie first started skiing when he was thirteen years old on a school trip to Italy. However, it was not immediately Ski jump. The Briton took his first steps in winter sports in alpine skiing.
He came close to qualifying in the field for the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. When that failed, he decided to train in the United States.
However, it turned out that it was not so easy, since the courses were very expensive and the money was running out for plastering. He also secured funding while removing and cleaning snow. Besides, his athletic level was getting worse and his dreams of participating in Olympic competitions began to fade away.
Changing discipline as a means to achieve dreams
Due to financial problems and his weakness, he decided on a crazy idea, which is to change the sporting discipline to one that would make it easier for him to get an Olympic pass. Fell on a ski jump.
Eddie Edwards told Gazeta Lubuska.
Edwards made his first jump at the end of 1985 in Lake Placid. A year later, in the summer of 1986, he tried his hand at plastic mats for the first time in the Swiss city of Kandersteg. He went there at his own expense.
He starts first in FIS and World Cup competitions in jumping
His first competition organized by the International Skating Federation (FIS) was the European Cup, which was held on December 26, 1986 in St. Moritz. He showed a 60-meter jump in it and, as in many subsequent competitions, took the last place.
Four days later, he made his World Cup debut in Oberstdorf, Germany. This time he jumped 65 meters and got 15 points, but he was also the last of the 110 runners.
Eddie Edwards in his hometown Cheltenham
In the same town in February 1987 the World Championships on Natural Hill were held. The Briton fell first at a distance of 59 meters, and in the second he reached 61.5 meters, and also finished last. He finished last to the penultimate contestant in the competition, losing over 60 points to the penultimate contestant, Bernat Solei of Spain.
This wasn’t the worst at last
For the first time in his career, he took a place not last on March 20, 1987. It happened during the World Cup competition in Oslo, where he was in second place after the last. Only the Dutchman, Gerrit Koenenberg, was worse. The same “success” was repeated by Edward two days later, where he also proved to be only better than the representative of Holland.
One of the last competitions of the 1986/87 season was the European Cup in the Norwegian city of Milldal. There he achieved his greatest success to date, ahead of as many as three competitors. Behind him were host rider Ole Talakstad and two US jumpers, Scott Larson and Blue Teramoto.
Eddie Edwards
Accommodation in a psychiatric hospital and Olympic qualification news
Find out about his qualifications for the Winter Olympics while living in Finland, where he trained with the local team of jumpers. His finances were still not good, so he was not able to buy a hotel or even a guest house.
Therefore, he spent the night for four weeks in a psychiatric hospital near Kuopio. This unusual night shelter was arranged for him by one of the coaches of the Finnish team, who made some extra money there by painting the walls.
He received the news of qualifying for the 1988 Calgary Games one morning while he was still in the said hospital.
Take Eddie Edwards into the coveted Olympics
Eddie Edwards jumped at the Olympics wearing the helmet he got from the Italian snowboarders’ team and on new skates given to him by the Austrians. In addition, he had thick glasses folded during jumps, because he was nearsighted.
He said In an interview with Przegląd Sportowy.
The latter was on both the small and the large hill. In the small match, he fell twice at 55 meters and lost more than 70 points to Bernat Sule, penultimate. In turn, on a large body, he first flew 71 meters, his best result was in the official competition, and then he reached 67 meters.
In this case, Todd Gilman of Canada surpassed him penultimately by nearly 60 points).
Eddie Edwards at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.
For the last time in the World Cup he played in the German part of the 37. Four Hills ChampionshipOn January 1, 1989, he took last place in both competitions.
Back to the hill the highest place in his career and the negative comments
He returned to international jumping in 1996. First, in March, he began jumping in two competitions Continental Cup in Swedish Ornskoldsvik, and later participated in three other events included in the PK.
On December 9, 1996, he took first place in the international competition – he was 36th in Lake Placid, eight American players were behind his back. His last professional debut was on the 8th and 9th of February 1997 in Westbly, United States.
Then he scored a notorious performer, twice receiving negative marks – the first -10.6, and the next -6.3 points.
Singing, writing a book and making a movie about his career
Although Eddie Edwards has not had an impressive jumping career, he has become very famous thanks to his colorful history. Some admired him for his bravery, while others considered him to be just a showman. After completing his adventure with sports, he tried to show himself to the world in various ways.
In 2016, “Eddie Named the Eagle” was made about the career of Eddie Edwards, directed by Dexter Fletcher. Eddie was played by British actor Taron Egerton and his coach was Hugh Jackman. The Polish premiere took place on May 27, 2016.
Taron Egerton, Eddie Edwards and Hugh Jackman at the “Eddie Cold The Eagle” press conference in Beijing in March 2016.
In turn, in the early 1990s he recorded two songs in Finnish – “Mun nimeni on Eetu” (My name is Eetu) and “Eddien siivella” (On Eddie’s Suite) – although he never used them. He is the author of “On the piste”.
He was also the world record holder in jumping and jumping, among others with 10 cars or 6 buses. Moreover, he was the ninth amateur athlete in the world in downhill speed skating, achieving a speed of 170 kilometers per hour.
In January 2010, the Briton ran about 300 meters with an Olympic torch in Winnipeg, USA.
He is married to Samantha Morton since 2003. The couple have two daughters, Ottie and Honey.
Eddie Edwards
