Where is it written that the Olympics are only for winners?
Eddie the Eagle
Resilience can go an awful long way.
Maybe I am a little bit of a clown, but I am also a serious sportsman.
If you have got a dream and you've got ambition, then go for it. You know, unless you try, you'll never know.
I had no money, no training facilities, no snow, no ski jumps, no trainer, but I still managed to ski jump for my country - and getting there was my gold medal.
When I was a kid, people kept saying, 'You can't do this, you can't do that,' and I wanted to prove them wrong.
I'm the Eagle: I can fly.
I've never really let any kind of negative things affect me, generally. I would take a positive out of the most desperately horrible situation.
It's nice and restful, plastering.
No matter how many people say you can't do something, use that as inspiration to prove them wrong.
I made my dream come true despite all the obstacles - no money, no training, no skis, no snow.
In my case, there are only two kinds of hope - Bob Hope and no hope.
The failures are the people who never get off their bums.
It takes a lot of guts to jump. If people criticise, I would give them a set of skis and say, 'Do it yourself then.'
I was like the George Clooney of the ski business.
Americans are very much 'Win! Win! Win!' In England, we don't give a fig whether you win. It's great if you do, but we appreciate those who don't.
You can't have Alan Partridge as Eddie the Eagle!
When I started competing, I was so broke that I had to tie my helmet with a piece of string. On one jump, the string snapped, and my helmet carried on farther than I did. I may have been the first ski jumper ever beaten by his gear.
After my ski jumping career finished, I went back to school to study law, and now I travel between five to 20 times a year doing after-dinner speaking, motivational talks, appearances, openings, TV and radio shows.
In the right circumstances, terror is good. It makes you focus.
A lot of people think I'm really outgoing and confident, but I'm not. I'd much rather sit in a corner and read my book and my paper. I'm quite happy with my own company.
I don't like bullies or selfishness or people who are grumpy.
I wish they'd build a ski jump at the Grand Canyon; it'd be fantastic.
People say I wasn't a real athlete, but I trained hard. It's possible to take something seriously and still have fun at it, you know.
I receive kindness every day. I love to smile when I'm out and about, and if someone smiles back, which happens about half the time, I think that's an act of kindness every couple of minutes in my day.
I've had an operation on my jaw - I don't have the big jaw anymore - and I've also had an operation on my eyes.
I like nothing more than walking down a country lane or along a mountain path - it's not proof that there is anything bigger than ourselves, but I feel very much at peace.
Once I was making £10,000 for an hour's work, but there have been years where my promotional stuff has brought in only a few hundred.
I always do the very best I can, and I should be given the opportunity and the right to represent my country.
I want to prove to the skeptics that I'm not a clown. I'm very serious about what I do. I want to be a good ski jumper who has a sense of humor.
I have a big chin. Thick glasses.
Getting to the Olympic Games was my gold medal.
We were not rich by any means. My dad was a plasterer and worked long hours - I hardly ever saw him when I was growing up. He had always gone to work before I woke up, and usually, I would be in bed before he came home.
Both parents were hard-working and made me work for my pocket money by doing household chores. That taught me the value of money and gave me a strong work ethic.
Life is good, and I'm happy, and I don't know that it would be as good if I'd been the winner in Calgary.
I can't explain my popularity. I suppose I'm just an ordinary bloke, and a lot of people see a little bit of Eddie in themselves.
I was a true amateur and embodied what the Olympic spirit is all about. To me, competing was all that mattered.
I try to keep fit, as it's better for both skiing and plastering. I cycle and jog and I dance a lot - Ceroc, a form of modern jive.
I don't want to look like Michael Jackson.
It was while I was in the mental hospital that I got my letter from the British Olympic Association saying, 'Congratulations. You've been picked to go to the Olympic Games.' I kept stressing I wasn't a patient.
It had been a dream of mine to go to an Olympic Games since I was about seven years old. I didn't know I'd do it ski jumping, but that's how it turned out.
People still think I'm a bit of a buffoon - not really an athlete.
Ski jumping is just 10 per cent physical, 90 per cent mental. Some people can't do that. It's not just to do with the fear at the top. It takes a lot of guts to go off the top, but it takes 100 times more courage to jump off the end.
The press portrayed me as a joke and a clown.
Most people should be given a chance to compete in the Olympic Games.
I travelled the world because of the way people saw me at the Olympics.
The only airline I avoid like the plague is Ryanair. I don't like that, when you book, there are then all of these little extras to pay for, and you end up paying more than just flying with British Airways.
I broke my jaw jumping, and I broke my back and my neck in the downhill. This is normal for me.
I want to be recognised as exemplifying the Olympic spirit - one of the last true Olympians.
I was exemplifying the Olympian who took up a challenge as a sportsman, without a trainer, in a country without mountains and without snow. And, inside of two years, I was representing my country.
