Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards is shown in competition in 1988 in Lake Placid, N.Y.J. McKnight/The Associated Press
He has been called the worst ski jumper in Winter Olympic history, and now he's on the comeback. No, not that kind of a comeback. Michael Edwards insists he has no plans to strap on the skis and fly off a 90-metre hill while assuming the crash position.
What Mr. Edwards is talking about is a return to normalcy, or as close as he can get to it considering his alter-ego is an eagle. Eddie the Eagle. Great Britain's greatest ski jumper because in his day he was the Empire's only ski jumper. For that, he was adored and applauded then pretty much forgotten until Hollywood decided to make a movie about his misadventures at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.
The film, dubbed what else but Eddie the Eagle, hit theatres in late February. It is not as much a bio-pic as it is a close enough facsimile that makes room for big-name actors Hugh Jackman and Christopher Walken as a pair of coaches. While the movie hasn't broken any box-office records, it has drawn warm reviews for portraying Mr. Edwards as the intrepid Olympian with his eyes bugging out from behind industrial-strength lenses and a jaw the size of an anvil.
"It was all so wonderful," he says from his residence in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. "I've always believed my gold medal was getting to Calgary."
The movie has renewed interest in the Eagle and helped Mr. Edwards from slipping back into seclusion.
For almost two years, he dealt with an emotional crisis. His wife of 13 years filed for a divorce. She ended up with the family home and caring for their two daughters. Mr. Edwards, a plasterer by trade, moved out to a house he was ripping up for a major renovation. He converted a garden shed into an office and a bedroom and lived there.
"I didn't see it coming," Mr. Edwards says of the split with his wife. "It's been difficult. I've been in a very dark place for about 18 months and I'm coming out of it now. My relationship with my girls is different because I don't see them on a daily basis. I don't feel like I'm a part of their lives as they grow up. It's a disappointment. But I'm bouncing back. Having things like this movie helps me enjoy life again."
Mr. Edwards's life has been filled with improbable episodes. After doing some research, he learned that Great Britain was void of ski jumpers. It meant if he could meet a certain standard he would be duly bound for Calgary. Since he had no teammates to practise with, Mr. Edwards asked if he could train with the Finnish national team. The Finns agreed but had no place for him to stay. They did, however, find him a usable place to sleep. It just happened to be a Finnish mental health hospital.
"It was while I was in the mental hospital that I got my letter from the British Olympic Association saying, 'Congratulations. You've been picked to go to the Olympic Games,'" Mr. Edwards says with a healthy laugh. "I kept stressing I wasn't a patient."
In Calgary, the ski jumper to beat was Finland's Matti Nykanen. He could fly off the run with his helmet on backward and still finish first. Dubbed Matti Nukes, he nailed his jumps to win three gold medals. That should have sent him over the moon. Instead, Mr. Nykanen mumbled a few words at his news conference and acted as if he was suffering from irritable bowel syndrome.
Mr. Edwards always breezed in for his media sessions and enjoyed himself, even if he did finish last in both 90- and 70-metre events. He made sure everyone knew the Italians had given him a new helmet and the Austrians gave him skis. The sport's governing body made sure its qualifications would never again allow a neophyte ski jumper into the Olympics
And yet the Eagle did leave a legacy that remains to this day.
"Our kids put a mark where Eddie landed off the old 90-metre jump at Canada Olympic Park," says Tom Reid, the Calgary-based president of Ski Jumping Canada's board of directors. "It's a big deal when they go past it."
As a member of the ski jumping community, Mr. Reid acknowledges the movie has drawn mixed reviews. The serious-minded have said parts of the movie are pure fabrication. Mr. Reid replies, "I'm all for [the movie]. Our kids on the team, they saw it and they loved it."
When Mr. Edwards finally managed to one-up Mr. Nykanen, it had nothing to do with jumping and everything to do with singing. Mr. Edwards was asked by a Finnish record producer to do a song entitled Mun nimeni Eetu (My Name is Eetu). Mr. Edwards sang in Finnish and did the same for a second ditty, Eddien Siivella (On Eddie's Wing). Mr. Nykanen also sang, only he did it naked in a strip bar earning him a more relevant nickname, Matti Nudes.
With the divorce done and his emotions calmed, the 52-year-old Mr. Edwards looks like a different man now because he is. He's had artificial lenses implanted in his eyes and his jaw has been operated on for dental reasons. But the voice and that devilish sense of humour belong to Eddie the Eagle, and, yes, he'd like another visit to the city that embraced his charm.
"There are people who think, 'Oh, Eddie the Eagle, he was just a flop, a failure.' Just because I came in last, that had very little to do with it," he says. "I wanted to be an Olympic ski jumper and I was. I can remember it all just like it was yesterday."