Eddie Edwards, also known as Eddie 'the Eagle', is a British skier and Olympic speaker who was the first Briton to compete in the Olympic ski jumping challenge. Born in Gloucestershire, Edwards made his first attempt to join the British Olympic team in 1984, narrowly missing out on a place on the downhill skiing team. Resilient Eddie did not give up on his dream. Instead, he moved to the US and continued his training as a downhill skier, however, a lack of funding quickly put an end to his dream. Realising that there were no other British contestants for Olympic ski jumping, Eddie decided to pursue the ski jump event, making him the only possible GB candidate for the ’88 Games.
Eddie first represented Great Britain at the 1987 World Championships and ranked 55th in the world. He rapidly caught the attention of the British public during the 1988 Olympic Games. By the end of the Games, he was the best ski jumper in the UK, holding the record at 73.5 metres. However, this was the highlight of Edwards’s appearance at Calgary, as he was otherwise largely unsuccessful, finishing last in both the 70m and 90m events. It was Eddie's determination and arguably his lack of success that made him so popular amongst audiences. This has also made him highly successful in his work as a sports speaker. Eddies' lack of success at Calgary inspired the instigation of the Eagle Rule for Olympic qualifications. It states that competitors must achieve a certain level of success in international tournaments before they can qualify to represent their country. Whilst Eddie failed to qualify for the 1992 Games, he continued to ride the waves of his public popularity for several years. He became a popular Olympic speaker and media personality for a variety of televised events, in addition to appearing in several national advertising campaigns. Remembered as the underdog, Eddie has toured the globe as a sports speaker sharing the story of his determination and failure. Brilliantly comedic and inspirational, there is no one else like Eddie the Eagle!
The film "Eddie the Eagle" was released as a biographical sports film based on Eddie's story and was played by leading Welsh actor Taron Egerton. It premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for numerous awards including the Empire Award for Best British Film, Golden Tomato Award for Best British Movie, Golden Trailer Award for Best Animation Family and Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Drama. The film grossed an impressive $46.1 million worldwide, and $12.8 million in the UK - the highest-grossing British film of 2016. Eddie has made various media appearances on shows including The Jump, Splash! and Let's Dance for Sport Relief. In 2017, Eddie made a grand return to the slopes at the Canada Olympic Park. He revisited memories from the 1988 Games by making his first jumps in over 15 years.
Now available to hire as a leading motivational speaker, Eddie shares the memorable story of his sporting career - and here at Champions Speakers we take pride in being an official speaker agent for Eddie Edwards. Having had millions of fans glued to their television as he became the first Briton to represent Team GB in Olympic ski jumping, Eddie is no stranger to captivating an audience with his story and inspirational career journey. Having also shared his story in his autobiography Eddie The Eagle: My Story, Eddie's impressive story has been delivered in speaking engagements for the likes of Dyson, Lloyds, Nationwide and the NHS. If you are looking for a motivational sports speaker who will increase the star appeal of your next event, don't hesitate to hire Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards today.
Today, Eddie uses his career journey and experience on screen to be a leading event or awards host. In recognition of such talent, Eddie was recently named as one of the Top 25 Event & Awards Hosts for Your Conferences, Functions & Events!
Books
Eddie The Eagle: My Story
Reviews
Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards received a 4.5 star rating across 5 events in 2023
Agent Recommendation
"Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards is an exceptional motivational speaker, embodying resilience and determination. His unique journey from Olympic ski jumper to inspiring sports speaker captivates audiences, making him an ideal choice for any event seeking an uplifting, memorable experience."
How to hire Eddie Edwards
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Eddie Edwards for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
Feedback from In-Person Events:
"Everything went really well with Eddie and the feedback from staff has been great. He's such a lovely, genuine man and to hear his story was very interesting and motivating" - Sarah, Get Busy
"I wanted to send out a huge thank you for your contribution in making the Rep Training Day a fabulous one... Thank you to our brilliant speaker and for your participation to achieve some clear goals to work towards this year." - Ruth, Dyson
"Thank you for helping us with this. Eddie was incredible and the feedback was really good. People loved his warmth and his enthusiasm was infectious" - Fergus
"Eddie was fantastic and really contributed to the whole event. All who met him had nothing but praise for him." - Jo White, Marches School
"Eddie was great and went down really well with everyone – there were loads of laughs and everyone enjoyed his story - photo opportunity afterwards went down really well too!" - Janice, Support Manager, BDGT
“I wanted to say that we loved Eddie, he was an inspirational, funny and down to earth delight who the students easily engaged with. We have wanted to have him at Dean Close for many years, as a local boy, so it was great to finally achieve it. Please pass our grateful thanks to him and we wish him well in his future.” - Balcarras & Dean Close School
"Both the conference and Eddie's talk went very well thank you, I actually sat in on Eddie's talk and thoroughly enjoyed it as it was a nice way to round up such a busy day. He was extremely friendly and interesting to talk too and we had a good chat in the Green Room whilst he was waiting to go on. What a lovely man! After delegates spend the day being ‘talked at’, where possible we always like to end our conference by having someone with an inspirational, heart-warming and interesting tale to tell mixed with just the right amount of humour to finish up, and Eddie did just that. He seemed to be a popular choice and some wanted to have their photo taken with him and talk to him afterwards, and he was most happy to stay and chat." - Christine Cottrell - ESSA
"It went really well thank you, I think everyone really enjoyed it and they were definitely surprised! Thank you for all your help arranging their attendance." - Natalie Moore - Morgan Kai Group
"The days of filming went really well, we are very pleased with how things went and are looking forward to seeing the end product once the edit has been done. Eddie was really great to work with, a lovely guy who couldn’t have been more engaged and flexible in working with us to achieve a fantastic result. Our gnarly production team said he was an absolute dream to work with - very high praise indeed!" - David, SafeStart International
“Eddie was an excellent speaker at our event – more than happy to mingle with our guests and do anything that might help us raise a few more pounds for charity on the night. Eddie’s speech was both hilarious and inspiring, which was absolutely key with the occasion being an awards night for previously vulnerable young people. His message resonated with both the award winners and the audience, and we’d gladly have him back any time!” - James, Inner Flame
"It was fantastic! Eddie was so lovely and everyone enjoyed his talk. He stayed with us for the rest of the evening so that everybody had an opportunity to spend time with him and ask their questions." - Christine, Zilico Limited
"Eddie went down well on Friday. Thank you again for coordinating." - Allan, North Tyneside Council
"Eddie was brilliant! Everyone loved him and he was swamped with people wanting selfies at the end!" - Callum, Progressive Property
“The event was a huge success yesterday, Eddie was absolutely brilliant! Feedback so far has been hugely positive and Twitter coverage was huge for our area. Please do pass my thanks on to him once again for joining us, delivering an inspirational talk and then talking the time to meet with everyone that wanted pictures and to say “hi” to him once he had finished. An absolute gent!” - Helen, Events Northern Limited
“In short, Eddie was excellent!” - Robbie, Dyson
"Eddie was great on Friday. A brilliant evening and everybody loved him. Dare I say, our most popular guest yet! Thank you for all of your help as ever!" - Active Sussex
"Eddie was an excellent speaker at our product launch event – funny, charming and very personable. It was such a great surprise to our sales team (who had no idea he was coming). Listening to his stories about determination and never giving up in the face of adversity, was truly inspirational." - Lauren, DW Windsor
"Just wanted to say a big thank you to Eddie for yesterday – he was really great, and we had some fantastic feedback from our guests." - Rachael, FDA
"A big thank you to Eddie. He was a great addition to our conference and brought a light-hearted element to what was quite a serious event. We had some lovely feedback from our delegates, and they and we really appreciated that Eddie stuck around after his session to join the delegates for lunch and answer plenty of questions/have selfies taken!" - Claire, CORGI Technical Services
"Overall Eddie was brilliant, a lovely guy to talk to before his slot and he was more than happy to chat with the team in the break and take pictures which was such a nice touch. I was particularly impressed that after Andrew and I had briefed him a couple of weeks ago, he used some of the keywords from the conference theme which was great and really linked his story to our message." - Lloyds
"Just a quick thank you to you and Eddie for a wonderful event, Eddie really made the day and really went the extra mile with all of the photos with everyone at the end. Please give him a huge thanks from us." - Jordan, EFT Solutions
"Everything went really well on Saturday, Eddie was fantastic and the students loved him!" - Megan, Harper Adams
"We were quite disorganized and only confirmed with Andrew the day of our event. Needless to say, Andrew was a hit at our company’s annual kick-off, especially considering he didn’t have much time to prepare. He was put on the spot when he arrived and had to pretend to be a new hire so that the team would be surprised by his act later in the evening. When he appeared at the front of the room and revealed his true identity, he had everyone laughing. He was professional, friendly, and above all, very funny!" - Alex - Momentum ABM
"I had such great feedback for Eddie. The pupils, parents and staff all thought he was absolutely brilliant. He stayed behind and had photos with guests and signed autographs. Thank you for your help in securing Eddie." - Kamala - Nottingham High School
"Eddie was funny, engaging and inspiring and nothing was too much trouble, he even had selfies taken with a huge queue of people!!" - Microgaming
"Eddie was so so so good, he was such a lovely chap and really experienced in meeting and greeting and public speaking. It was an honour to have him!" - Stamford College
"Eddie was brilliant and such a nice guy!" - Katy, McCarthy & Stone
"Everything went so well last week! We are over the moon with Eddie, he was amazing!" - Samantha, WEAF
"He turned up on time, was fantastic with all the guests, happy to do lots of photos, entertaining speech and a truly lovely man. Highly recommend Eddie!" - Gemini PR & Marketing
"We booked Eddie for an internal event for 70 colleagues. I have never seen them so engrossed or smile so much as they did during Eddies presentation. Eddie’s energy is infectious, he captivated the room with his excellent, authentic storytelling and told relatable stories throughout. I have seen a lot of motivational speakers and Eddie was one of the best! To top it off, he is so nice! I would highly recommend Eddie at your next event." - Shelley, Nationwide
"He was great presenting a number of our awards in the evening and his slot went down well in the afternoon. I sat with him at dinner and after he was great at engaging with delegates on the ski simulator machines!" - Metalogic Ltd
"Eddie was so friendly, enthusiastic and just happy to be at our event which was so well received by everyone watching. He gave his story but in much more depth than the film so even if you have seen that, it is still worth hearing from him as he has had such an interesting life." - Mark, BACP
Wanted to say a huge thanks to you and Eddie for agreeing last minute to support our event. Everyone loved Eddie, he was such a hit and gave a really good speech. Lots of staff have said it was the best awards night yet. - Madeline, NHS
"EDDIE WAS AMAZING!!!!! What an absolute hero!!!!" - Lee, Wyre & Fylde Schools Sports Partnership and School Games Organiser
"Our evening with Eddie was a complete success!! He was so friendly and welcoming to our guests who approached him for photos and conversations. His talk went down brilliant with our guests. They are all aged between 40-70 so they grow up around the time Eddie was big on the Ski Jumping scene so it really took them back being able to listen to his stories and meet him! They loved it." - Paige, Client Service and Experience Manager, Lucent Financial Planning Ltd
"Eddie was fabulous, his story was really engaging and he was just the loveliest person! So many of the team wanted a photo with him too." - Sarah, Chief Customer & Digital Officer, Iceland
"Eddie was wonderful and everyone thought he was really down to earth and interesting." - GMX
Feedback from Virtual Events:
"Eddie was certainly a hit – and fit in very well with the tone of mkodo! Everyone was very excited after the event, and it was brilliant having him with us." - Georgina, Mkodo
"It went very well yesterday. Eddie was great and came across so lovely. There was tonnes of questions and everyone really enjoyed it so thank you!" - Kathryn, Fresenius Kabi
"Eddie was great! He was a huge hit with everyone who attended the event and the perfect fit for the day." - Charlotte, Cazoo
"Eddie was amazing and went down a complete storm. What an amazing guy to have on your books, warm and gentle. Everyone loved him!" - Liz, Head of Claims & HR, Movo Partnership Limited
- 2024 - Contestant on "Dancing On Ice"
- 2021 - Appeared on "The Masked Dancer" as Rubber Chicken
- 2016 - Author of "Eddie The Eagle: My Story"
- 2014 - Commentator on "The Jump" for Channel 4
- 2013 - Winner of the first series of "Splash!"
- 2012 - Competitor on "Let's Dance for Sport Relief"
- 2010 - Torchbearer of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games
- 2003 - Graduated from De Montford University with a Degree in Law
- 1988 - Competed in the Winter Olympics
- The first competitor to represent Great Britain in Olympic Ski Jumping
- Holder of the British Ski Jumping Record from 1988 to 2001
