Heroes to Humanity: #405 - Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards

I tell you, few things got me more excited, as a young nipper, than watching the Winter Olympics. The reason for that was simply one man. A god among men. A bird, floating effortlessly through the heavens, kissing the wings of an angel before gliding back to earth among us mortals. That man was, of course, Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards...

"Bo Selecta!"

Has there ever been a more English of heroes? With his movie star looks and sly wit, he had it all. I mean, when he wasn't doing death-defying dives off of enormous ramps, the man was a plasterer! How perfect is that?

Growing up in the West Country of England, god knows how Eddie got into Ski-Jumping as a professional pastime. Honestly, just dwell on that for a minute...a country with no snowy mountains. None. Couple that with the fact that the man was supposedly afraid of heights and you must wonder...how???

Anyway, got into it he did and eventually became Britain's representative in the 1988 Winter Olympics. In actual fact, Eddie can claim to be the only Ski Jumper our fair shores have EVER produced. Ever. Another miracle to hang his hat on.

I remember during the '88 Olympics, he was my undisputed hero. Every jump seemed to be walking the fine line between landing safely and decapitating himself. Oh, the excitement. Of course, our Ed came last in every event he entered, but he took that very British trait of dignified failure to entirely new levels and captured the nation's heart in the process. The man is simply a legend. I believe this interview excerpt sums our hero up nicely:

Eddie: "They said I was afraid of heights, but I was doing 60 jumps a day then. Is that the behaviour of someone who's scared of heights?"

Interviewer: "Well, were you afraid of jumping?"

Eddie: "Yeah, of course."

God bless that man.

JB.