Top 100 Quotes & Sayings by Eddie the Eagle

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an English athlete Eddie the Eagle.
Last updated on December 25, 2024.
Eddie the Eagle

Michael David Edwards, better known as Eddie the Eagle, is an English ski-jumper and Olympian who in 1988 became the first competitor since 1928 to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping, finishing last in the Normal Hill and Large Hill events. He held the British ski jumping record from 1988 to 2001. He also took part in amateur speed skiing, running at 106.8 km/h (66.4 mph), and became a stunt jumping world record holder for jumping over 6 buses.

I wish they'd build a ski jump at the Grand Canyon; it'd be fantastic.
Maybe I am a little bit of a clown, but I am also a serious sportsman.
It's nice and restful, plastering. — © Eddie the Eagle
It's nice and restful, plastering.
I've fractured my skull twice, damaged a kidney, snapped a cruciate ligament in my knee, and broken all manner of bones, including my jaw. And I count myself very lucky it hasn't been worse!
I was a true amateur and embodied what the Olympic spirit is all about. To me, competing was all that mattered.
Resilience can go an awful long way.
The worst thing that happened to me as a child was seeing my brother get pushed into a cement mixer.
The failures are the people who never get off their bums.
I did a tandem parachute jump when I opened a golf course in Atlanta, Georgia. I jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet to land on the first tee, and then I played a couple of holes with golfer Arnold Palmer. That was brilliant.
I want my life to move on. On the other hand, I can't say no to offers, not when I'm getting £50,000 a year to be Eddie the Eagle.
People say I wasn't a real athlete, but I trained hard. It's possible to take something seriously and still have fun at it, you know.
When people make fun, it doesn't bother me. I've always enjoyed a laugh.
As a child, I was always getting into risky situations with the potential to hurt myself, but mum and dad never stopped me doing what I wanted to do, and they assumed that if I fell and hurt myself, I would learn from that and maybe not do it again.
Some people thought I was bringing the sport down. I don't think so. I was the best and only jumper my country had. — © Eddie the Eagle
Some people thought I was bringing the sport down. I don't think so. I was the best and only jumper my country had.
The only airline I avoid like the plague is Ryanair. I don't like that, when you book, there are then all of these little extras to pay for, and you end up paying more than just flying with British Airways.
I think the only bones I haven't broken are my shoulder, hip, and thigh.
You have to take the rough with the smooth - that's what ski-jumping is all about. You always expect the worst.
When I started competing, I was so broke that I had to tie my helmet with a piece of string. On one jump, the string snapped, and my helmet carried on farther than I did. I may have been the first ski jumper ever beaten by his gear.
I was exemplifying the Olympian who took up a challenge as a sportsman, without a trainer, in a country without mountains and without snow. And, inside of two years, I was representing my country.
I don't like bullies or selfishness or people who are grumpy.
Life is good, and I'm happy, and I don't know that it would be as good if I'd been the winner in Calgary.
I can't explain my popularity. I suppose I'm just an ordinary bloke, and a lot of people see a little bit of Eddie in themselves.
Where is it written that the Olympics are only for winners?
I receive kindness every day. I love to smile when I'm out and about, and if someone smiles back, which happens about half the time, I think that's an act of kindness every couple of minutes in my day.
I'm the Eagle: I can fly.
No matter how many people say you can't do something, use that as inspiration to prove them wrong.
I was living on a loaf of bread a week.
In the right circumstances, terror is good. It makes you focus.
Some people thought I wasn't taking the sport seriously because I was always laughing and having fun, but I loved my skiing, I loved my jumping, and I thought, 'Well, why not have a smile on my face when I'm doing something that I really, really love doing,' and that's how I was.
I want to be recognised as exemplifying the Olympic spirit - one of the last true Olympians.
I have never, ever considered myself a failure.
I would never think of asking a girl out on the High Street or the disco or at school. But on the ski slope, I would chat to all the girls.
I had no money, no training facilities, no snow, no ski jumps, no trainer, but I still managed to ski jump for my country - and getting there was my gold medal.
We were not rich by any means. My dad was a plasterer and worked long hours - I hardly ever saw him when I was growing up. He had always gone to work before I woke up, and usually, I would be in bed before he came home.
Getting to the Olympic Games was my gold medal.
I travelled the world because of the way people saw me at the Olympics.
People still think I'm a bit of a buffoon - not really an athlete.
I was an expert skier who set his sights on going to the 1988 Olympics in Canada to represent Britain, and went from novice ramps to the 120-metre jump in five months. That's possible only with utter focus.
You can't have Alan Partridge as Eddie the Eagle! — © Eddie the Eagle
You can't have Alan Partridge as Eddie the Eagle!
It had been a dream of mine to go to an Olympic Games since I was about seven years old. I didn't know I'd do it ski jumping, but that's how it turned out.
I actually had huge problems with my glasses steaming up all the time. I had to train very carefully around the limitations caused by wearing them.
I broke my jaw jumping, and I broke my back and my neck in the downhill. This is normal for me.
If you are in your sport for your country, you should be able to go to the Olympic Games and represent your sport for your country bringing people together in the interests of sport. It's a fantastic Olympic ideal, and I uphold it as much as I can.
Ski jumping is just 10 per cent physical, 90 per cent mental. Some people can't do that. It's not just to do with the fear at the top. It takes a lot of guts to go off the top, but it takes 100 times more courage to jump off the end.
I'm a positive person who likes to have fun and get the best out of every day.
If you have got a dream and you've got ambition, then go for it. You know, unless you try, you'll never know.
I always say my first job is my building trade. The rest comes and goes.
On the street, I'll hear, 'You made the Olympics for me,' or 'I love what you represented.' Only occasionally is it, 'You were a flop, an also-ran, a loser.'
I want to prove to the skeptics that I'm not a clown. I'm very serious about what I do. I want to be a good ski jumper who has a sense of humor. — © Eddie the Eagle
I want to prove to the skeptics that I'm not a clown. I'm very serious about what I do. I want to be a good ski jumper who has a sense of humor.
I made my dream come true despite all the obstacles - no money, no training, no skis, no snow.
Most people should be given a chance to compete in the Olympic Games.
In my case, there are only two kinds of hope - Bob Hope and no hope.
Americans are very much 'Win! Win! Win!' In England, we don't give a fig whether you win. It's great if you do, but we appreciate those who don't.
I liked being Eddie the Eagle, but I also like being Michael Edwards, plasterer and general builder.
People really aren't interested in the way I look. It's my personality they like.
I have a big chin. Thick glasses.
After my ski jumping career finished, I went back to school to study law, and now I travel between five to 20 times a year doing after-dinner speaking, motivational talks, appearances, openings, TV and radio shows.
I don't want to look like Michael Jackson.
It takes a lot of guts to jump. If people criticise, I would give them a set of skis and say, 'Do it yourself then.'
I've had an operation on my jaw - I don't have the big jaw anymore - and I've also had an operation on my eyes.
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