Eddie the Eagle

Eddie the Eagle is, for me, one of sport's most lovable underdogs ever. At the 1988 Calgary Olympics, Michael Edwards became the first Brit to compete in Olympic ski jumping, and he finished dead last, yet the world adored him. What I find genuinely inspiring is that he had no funding, thick glasses, and barely any training, but he jumped anyway out of sheer determination. He even held the British ski jumping record for over a decade. The Cheltenham-born athlete proved that the Olympic spirit isn't only about winning, and the 2016 film about him captured that beautifully. A reminder that courage counts.

Michael David Edwards (born 5 December 1963), better known as Eddie the Eagle, or Eddie Edwards is an English ski jumper and Olympian who in 1988 became the first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping. Despite finishing last in the Normal Hill and Large Hill events, he held the British ski jumping record from 1988 to 2001.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Name (English)

Eddie the Eagle

Name (Japanese)

マイケル・エドワーズ

Reading

まいける・えどわーず

Born

December 5, 1963 (age 62)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Sagittarius / Rabbit

Origin

Cheltenham, United Kingdom

Blood type

Private

Height

173 cm

Agency

Private

Occupation

ski jumper / singer

Elementary school

Private

Junior high

Private

High school

Private

University

De Montfort University

Spouse

Private

Children

Private

Parents

Private

Siblings

Private

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://eddie-the-eagle.co.uk
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B1%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A8%E3%83%89%E3%83%AF%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BA

Tags

• ski jumper
• singer

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.