Het grote Eddy The Eagle fantopic # 1

The plasterer from Cheltenham was born Michael Edwards on 5th December, 1963. His birthday ironically is still celebrated as a public holiday for casualty departments all over the world. He made his debut in the 1987 World Championships in Obertsdorf - he came 98th in a field of 98. When the Calgary Olympics came around, there was nobody who didn’t know about Eddie the Eagle. The country was mesmerised, waiting to see if this idiot would crash and kill himself as he leapt from a seriously great height. If you have ever stood at the top of a jump and looked down, it is a completely horrid sight. It is a sport where it is necessary to have your brain removed at birth before you even begin training. So it should not be forgotten that Eddy had great courage, or perhaps it was just sheer stupidity. He had grown up wanting to be a stunt-man in the movies, loved skiing and decided to combine his two passions.

Eddie very quickly became the darling of the media - he was the master of self promotion, not deterred by the fact that the world saw him as Mr Magoo on skis. His glasses were thick, he was awkward, his hair was thinning and weighing in at 180 pounds, he was 20 pounds heavier than the average jumper. When you meet him however, it’s easy to see why he was so popular. He’s funny, sarcastic, knowledgeable and incredibly driven. Driven and Eddie the Eagle don’t seem like words that are synonymous with each other, but to train to the level that he did proves that he is one of the most dedicated, enthusiastic skiers this country has ever produced. He wanted to be taken seriously - to be known as a respectably competent ski jumper, if not actually a good one. But all we did was laugh at him. Even the President of the USA stopped his conference to watch Eddie jump, confident that he would crash in front of the world. But Eddie didn’t crash, he didn’t win either, but at least he finished in one piece.

Eddie’s downfall came when he waved to the world and said ‘Hello Mum, it’s me’ just before he took his second jump. He’d already achieved what he went to Calgary to do, to ski in the Olympics for his country. The second jump was purely for enjoyment. In Eddie’s eyes he’d already won. But to his critics, those words ridiculed the whole concept of what the Games stood for - sporting excellence, which even he admits is not a word that could be used to describe him.

The high point of Eddie’s career was when the President of the Games gave his closing speech. He said: ‘at this Olympic Games some competitors have won gold and some have broken records, and one has even flown like an eagle.’ At that moment, 100,000 people in the stadium got up and roared ‘Eddie, Eddie.’ It was the first time in the history of the Games that an individual athlete had been mentioned in the closing speech.

Whatever we think of Eddie the Eagle’s exploits, he is a man to be admired if only for his guts at having had a go at such a high level. The IOC have since introduced a new rule to prevent any other buffoons getting similar ideas. Competitors now have to jump a certain length before they can represent their country in the Games. It’s called the ‘Eagle Rule.’ Eddie’s jumps will always be remembered; twelve years on he is still Britain’s only ever ski jumper.

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Op vrijdag 27 januari 2006 18:15 schreef ABBAfan het volgende:
Die man is nu toch al lang gepensioneerd?

Hij is gedwongen moeten stoppen. Een schande natuurlijk. Maar wel leuk om te weten is dat ie een laseroperatie heeft ondergaan en geen bril meer hoeft te dragen. Verder studeert ie volgend jaar af als......ja echt waar.....advocaat.

Geen idee, wil het ook wel weten.

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Op zondag 29 januari 2006 22:56 schreef sig000 het volgende:

Leeft ie nog?

Hij was deze week nog op TV omdat er 12 dichters sportgedichten heben gemaakt die in boekvorm uitkomen en op de treinstations komen te hangen. De nationale dichter Dries van der Wissen schreef er één over Eddy the Eagle