The first time Michael Edwards set foot in Canada, he didn't know his own name.
It was 1988. As he strolled to the baggage carousel at Calgary airport, he noticed a few banners bearing the moniker "Eddie the Eagle."
"I had to ask someone who this Eddie the Eagle person was and they just looked at me oddly and said, 'That's you.' "
Over the next two weeks, the nearsighted ski-jumper and his nickname practically eclipsed the Olympics itself. A rank amateur, he qualified for the Calgary Olympics through the loose criteria of the day, arrived on a wave of pre-Games publicity, and skied into history as perhaps the most lovable loser in the annals of the event.
On the icy streets of Winnipeg yesterday, the 46-year-old Brit donned the Olympic rings that so many critics accused him of sullying two decades ago for a short jaunt with the torch. He managed to finish the entire 300-metre run without falling on his face, something he'd joked about the day before. Prior to stepping onto a awaiting bus, he obliged a throng of onlookers by donning his trademark bottle-bottom glasses and flashing a thumbs-up.
But as much as Mr. Edwards plays up the hapless Eddie the Eagle caricature, he's actually a man of quick wit and a keen sense of marketing.
He holds a law degree and continues to travel the world giving motivational speeches and doing commercials that trade on his old image. He doesn't even need glasses any more, having had eye surgery five years ago.
"I try and keep the persona, because that was me, that was what I was," he said, warming up in the Fort Garry Hotel shortly after his -40 trot. "It's not something I regret. I created it myself."
His reputation as a bumbler really came from one isolated incident, he explained. When he went to grab his luggage from the Calgary carousel back in 1988, he noticed his bag had been ripped open. "I saw a slipper going past, and then my pants, my socks - half my clothes were going round on the carousel."
To top off the moment, he nearly walked through a glass door.
"I was walking towards an electric door thinking it would open. It didn't. My skis smacked into the door and fell off the trolley along with all my bags. This was in front of all these TV cameras. And all the reporters thought, 'Christ, he's going to break his neck. He can't even walk properly.' "
His performance in Calgary only added to the persona. Roughly 20 pounds heavier than his nearest competitor, he could never escape gravity's clutches like other skiers, many of whom thought he was making a mockery of the sport. He placed second to last thanks to a French skier pulling out with a broken leg.
Now married with two daughters, he still contends that, despite only training for two years before Calgary, he was a serious athlete.
"I scraped food out of bins, slept in a mental hospital, slept in a car, slept in a cow shed, all so I could make it to the Olympics," he said. "I never had a sponsor."
After his first few jumps, he didn't need one. The world was captivated with the 24-year-old drywaller who soared like a lead balloon. During one jump, more than 80,000 people turned out chanting "Eddie, Eddie, Eddie" as he plunged through the air.
"That was wonderful," he said. "That may be the best memory I have."
Shortly after Calgary, the qualifying rules were changed to bar Mr. Edwards or his like from ever competing again. However, more than two decades later, he remains an incarnation of the Olympic spirit - willing to risk everything, including his neck, for a shot at competing against the world's best.
"That's the ironic thing," he says. "For two years I took ski-jumping from page 47 to page one. And then my wings were clipped, as it were. The sport, all sports, need more characters. Maybe I should get my jumping skis back on and get back out there."
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EDDIE THE EAGLE / THEN AND NOW
Age 24
Occupation Drywaller
Physical appearance thick glasses, prominent chin, red hair - think Bubbles from TV's The Trailer Park Boys.
Notable turn placed 58th out of 59 ski jumpers in the Calgary Olympics.
Other pursuits recorded two songs in Finnish, though he doesn't speak the language .
46
Motivational speaker, celebrity, drywaller
no glasses (surgery), smaller chin (surgery), red hair - think middle-class, middle-aged soccer dad.
Speaks regularly on P&O Cruises ships. A biopic is forthcoming with Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter series) playing the Eagle.
Earned a law degree. Bides time building and renovating houses.
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LIGHT BRIGADE
DAYS 70, 71 & 72
Winnipeg
Winkler
Portage la Prairie
Neepawa
Brandon
Yorkton
Regina
Globe and Mail journalists will follow the Olympic Torch Relay every step of the way, painting a compelling portrait of Canada as they go.