Eddie “the Eagle” Edwards is easily the most inspiring winter-sports athlete Britain has ever produced, and nearly three decades after his heroic achievements at the Calgary Winter Olympics of 1988, his fame seems to just keep growing.
Perhaps it’s because Eddie’s selfbelief and achievements against all the odds make a connection for all of us in what we respect and admire, and what seems to be becoming increasingly lost in the modern world of over-sanitised, corporate-run sporting events. Now the new Eddie the Eagle movie from Lionsgate Films, scheduled for release in the UK on 28 March 2016, follows the realisation of the childhood dream of Michael Edwards (aka Eddie) and his unflinching determination to become Great Britain’s first Olympic ski jumper. Reluctantly aided by former ski jumper Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman) as his coach, Eddie (Taron Egerton) is unwavering in his quest to reach the 1988 Winter Games. “Eddie the Eagle is an uplifting, inspirational story that celebrates human spirit, passion and one man’s refusal to accept defeat,” say the filmmakers, and at an unofficial world premiere at the Sundance Independent Film Festival in Park City last month, it received rave reviews. Eddie The Eagle is released in UK cinemas on 26 February 2016.
