Eddie the Eagle - The Courtyard

Join British Winter Olympics legend turned subject of award-winning Hollywood movie–Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards for an evening at The Courtyard this November.Audiences can hear all about Eddie’s life and his career, plus there will be a chance to ask some questions. Michael Edwards, better known as Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, was Born in Cheltenham. He learnt to ski at his local dry ski slope and quickly became an accomplished downhill skier, narrowly missing out on being selected for the Great Britain ski team at the 1984 Games. To improve his chances of qualifying for the Calgary Olympics in 1988, he moved to Lake Placid in the US to train and enter races of a higher standard. However, he quickly found himself short on funds. Eddie began ski jumping under the watchful eye of John Viscome and Chuck Berghorn in Lake Placid, using Chuck’s old equipment. Eddie had to wear six pairs of socks to make the boots fit.Without any form of financial support for training, Eddie worked as a plasterer and even slept in a disused Finnish hospital for a short time to save enough money to keep his Olympic dreams alive. Eddie The Eagle will be in The Courtyard’s Main House on Tuesday 9 November at 7.30pm.