Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards
The comically
inept British "ski jumper"
by Gerry Brown
He soared like a brick into the hearts of Olympic
fans across the world. Eddie Edwards, a comically inept British ski jumper
didn't come close to winning any medals in the
1988 Calgary Games. In fact, he finished dead last in both the 70- and
90-meter jumps.
He did, however, win a large amount of fame and a
small fortune thanks to his complete lack of skill and lovably goofy look.
Sarcastically nicknamed "the Eagle," he dropped into the public consciousness
and was easily the most popular athlete to compete that year.
The
doughy, bespectacled former plasterer with the silly grin parlayed his 15
minutes of fame into a $65,000 deal to tell his life story to a tabloid and—no
joke—a number-two song ("Mun Niemi En Eetu" or "My Name is Eddie") in
Finland in 1991.
Even IOC president
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 to raucous applause.
Despite the kind words, the IOC subsequently
instituted what is known as the Eddie the Eagle Rule, which requires Olympic
hopefuls to finish in the top half of an international competition. This effectively
eliminated Edwards from future Games.
It's not that Edwards, now a
law student in England, hasn't tried an Olympic
comeback, but the new IOC rule has done its job.
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