Nearly three decades after his underdog story played out at the Olympics in Calgary, British skier Michael "Eddie the Eagle" Edwards soared through the air over the city's ski hills in front of a new generation of fans on Sunday.
Edwards gained notoriety back in 1988, as the first ski jumper to represent Great Britain at the Olympics, finishing dead last in both of his events at the Calgary Winter Games. Nevertheless, his unlikely determination to compete made him a fan favourite, and inspired last year's feel-good movie "Eddie the Eagle," starring Hugh Jackman.
It was that movie that won Edwards a new generation of young fans. Hundreds of them were on hand Sunday, at the WinSport ski jumping hill to watch the now-53-year-old jump again, in the city where he brought Olympic dreams to so many.
"He's a big inspiration for a lot of us," young skier James Tourigny, 11, told CTV Calgary.
Ski Jumping Canada President Tom Reid said the excitement was cross-generational for "Eddie."
"You can see the buzz in most of the kids," he said. "In fact, I think some of the adults are even more excited. I hear a lot of them saying, 'I was here in '88, and I saw him jump the big hill.'"
Edwards showed he can still stick a landing after so many years, as he successfully landed jumps from the 70-metre, 38-metre and 18-metre ramps.
Edwards said he's thrilled that the movie brought his story so much attention. "Now that the movie's been out last year, I've got a whole new younger audience," he said.
Among those he met at the hill was Logan Avery, a six-year-old who knows all the lines from the movie, and who plans to become an Olympic skier himself.
"It's not about the winning. He just wants to go and represent Canada one day," said the boy's mother, Angela Avery.
Logan gave Edwards a framed picture he drew of a scene from the movie, in which "Eddie" is shown on the ski hill.
"I'll have to hang that on my wall at home," Edwards said.
With files from CTV Calgary and The Canadian Press
