Eddie 'The Eagle' Flies In For Business Event

Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards was the star guest at a business event run by local group Professional Connections of Wiltshire, or PCW, on Thursday February 2.

The Olympian, who shot to fame for his sheer determination to ski-jump in the Calgary Olympics of 1988, spoke to more than 80 business owners who attended the event at Marsh Farm Hotel in Royal Wootton Bassett. 

Organised by PCW members, there was a full house for  an evening of networking, nibbles and the chance to meet Eddie, who still lives in Gloucestershire and still skis to this day. 

Eddie shared his story of loving ski-ing yet being thwarted by the sheer expense of competing at the highest level - his dream to compete at an Olympic Games had started in his teenage years. He swapped to the ski jump when he realised he was not going to be able to compete in other ski sports. 

In 1988 he qualified to represent Great Britain and he came 58th out of 58 competitors yet his cheerful persona made him a superstar of that Games when he was christened Eddie The Eagle for the first time. 

While the public loved him, officialdom did not and there was a feeling that someone who came last should not outshine those who came first in the ski-jump event. After that new rules came into place which meant someone like Eddie could never again qualify for an Olympic Games. In the USA this rule is still known as the Eddie the Eagle rule. 

Sharing that story and the hard reality of trying to compete inspired the Wiltshire audience along with his stories of becoming an unlikely pop star in Finland and the joy he felt when his story was re-told in a film 'Eddie The Eagle' which came out in 2014 - even though it had been mooted many years before. 

The film led to Eddie travelling the world with actors Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton, who played Eddie, to 16 world premieres. Eddie told the audience that the film was over 95 per cent accurate and that he absolutely loved it. He first saw it when the production company put on a private screening in Cheltenham for him, close family and friends.

Eddie's final message was that if you have a dream, do all you can to achieve it and don't be thwarted along the way - whatever that dream may be. 
Chris Pugh, founder of PCW, said: "Eddie was so incredibly inspiring for all of us and to hear his own story was an absolute privilege. We'd like to thank everyone who came along to support this event." 

During the evening, a charity raffle was held and also guests were offered the opportunity to have a photograph with Eddie for a donation to the Wiltshire charity Julia's House, based in Devizes. In total £420 was raised. 

PCW meets fortnightly at the Marsh Farm Hotel on a Friday from 9am to 10.30am. It is a not for profit, single seat business networking group and more information can be found here https://www.pcwnetworking.co.uk