EDDIE 'THE EAGLE' EDWARDS

He soared like a brick, well, he hardly soared like an eagle. With his Coke-bottle glasses, for Britain's only ski jumper, Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, former plasterer, just landing safely was victory enough. He didn't come close to winning any medals. Eddie "The Eagle" was a sarcastic reference to his jumping style. Edwards was a downhill skier who decided he wanted to try ski jumping. He taught himself to ski jump with borrowed skis. He had no sponsors and trained by jumping over double-decker buses. He had never ski jumped on snow before his arrival for the 1988 winter olympics. The accident-prone Edwards finished last in both events.

Few people know who won the 90 metre ski jump at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Everyone, however, knows that Eddie Edwards finished last, flapping both arms for mid-air balance and complaining that he could not see anything because his pebble specs steamed up during take-off. He amazed everyone by deciding to enter the Olympics after several practice runs on the local dry ski slope. His fame went before him and a huge, cheering crowd met him at the airport where his plane arrived late and his bag split open so that every piece of his gear went round and round the luggage carousel with Eddie in hot pursuit.

Next morning he found that his ski bindings had been crushed and so he missed his first two practice jumps while they were repaired. He got in one jump and survived only to find that he was locked out of his cabin with all his clothes inside. When he did get to the press centre, he was not allowed into his own press conference because he did not have the right credentials. Known as the 'barmy Brit,' he soon gained a huge following throughout the world. Millions watched his jump and when he landed he raised his arms in a salute normally reserved for the outright winner. A living embodiment of the Olympic spirit, he said that he did not train in the gym because it made him ache..."

You have to ask yourself how someone can do so badly in a sport which simply requires you to bend your legs and wait! He declared himself bankrupt in 1992, claiming a trust fund set up to handle his earnings had not done so properly. In spite of all this, Eddie is the British ski-jumping record holder and is now a law student at De Montfort University in Leicester. "I've been interested in law since taking out a civil action against my trustees 10 years ago," he remarked.