Bobsleigh
What happens when Eddie the Eagle takes up the sport of tobogganing? World records, that’s what.
If you didn’t know who Eddie the Eagle Edwards was before, you most certainly should now – the Hollywood biopic about his life, starring Hugh Jackman, has now been released worldwide. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it, we’ll give you the basics: a construction worker from England realises his only chance at the Winter Games is by entering as Britain’s only ski jumper, a sport he’s never done before – and a dangerous one at that.
But this video isn’t about the Hugh Jackman, the movie, or even about ski-jumping. It’s about tobaggan-jumping – and Eddie the Eagle is the new (and only) world record-holder.
Getting a little air
When we first approached Eddie about the attempt, he wasn’t so sure. But when he found out the world record didn’t exist, well, it was obvious he’d be going for it. After all, this is the man who flung himself off a 90m ski jump for the first time ever during the Winter Games in Calgary back in the late eighties. So it’s clear ‘going for it’ is a big part of Eddie’s vocabulary.
“When they said 'world record', I had visions of 100m,” says Edwards. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?!) that wasn’t needed – since there are no jumps on the books. All there was to do was an exhaustive search of YouTube – and get Eddie’s jump on tape. Disclaimer: has someone out there jumped further on a toboggan? Maybe – but we can’t find it. And they certainly didn’t have this much fun doing it.
When we proposed the idea, Mr Edwards did have two questions: “Is this serious, or this tongue-in-cheek? I’m not quite sure!” Our answer? Both! And Eddie was totally OK with that. “It’s a toboggan,” he said, “How dangerous can it be?!” His next question: “What kind of toboggan will it be?” Answer: Whatever we could find at the rental shop.
The steely stare of determination
So on a snowy day in Flachauwinkl, Austria, Eddie showed up to make history yet again. After procuring the finest-looking steed he could get his hands on – a nice little number made of hand-sanded wood, we assure you – it was up the hill. “We went up to have a reccy – and since I was already in my ski gear, we just got on with it! The crew at Absolut Park had built a very lovely jump, with a clean take-off at 18º. They estimated my height off the ground at 1.5m max!” says Eddie. “But the snow was so soft, we had to extend the in-run to get enough speed. That made it harder to control!"
Now we’re flying high
And how did it go? “At first I was clearing just a few metres, but we started pushing it, and I got further and further,” says Eddie. Eventually, he bagged 10m – far and away the furthest anyone’s ever flown on a toboggan*.
Any bumps or bruises? “After 20 tries, I was starting to feel it,” he said. “I thought it would be bad on my back, but it’s the inside of my thighs that are bruised – I was using my legs to grip the sled pretty hard!”
We know what your burning question is: can Eddie go further? According to him – absolutely. “With the right conditions, we can really soar,” says the Eagle. “I think I can even do a 360º!” We’ll be watching when you do, Eddie.
*We think.