IT’S EDDIE THE LEGAL EAGLE

Swaps skis for pleas

BRITISH skiing legend Eddie Edwards hopes to become a legal eagle by becoming a fully-trained solicitor.

The former sportsman dubbed Eddie the Eagle, who won the nation’s hearts at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Canada, completed a law degree in 2003.

But he now hopes to use that knowledge to become a practising solicitor.

Despite finishing last in the 70 and 90-metre ski jumping events, Eddie, 53, has remained a national hero.

And he insists his future career in the legal world will not hit a downward slope.

He has started a three-year college course which he hopes will turn him into a courtroom high-flier. Eddie – pictured above how he might look as a barrister and, inset, as he is now – said at a recent meet-and-greet tour: “I’ve done the groundwork on law and that’s the way I want to go. I am totally committed to moving my law degree on and I’m loving every minute of my learning,

“I always know that people will only remember me for my efforts in Calgary which, I must admit, seem without doubt to have kept the name alive.

“But I honestly love law and really hope it can take off for me. I’m going for it.” Eddie, born in Cheltenham, Glos, became the first Olympic competitor since 1929 to represent Great Britain in a ski jump competition. Dad-of-two Eddie, now divorced from his wife of 13 years Samantha, told fans on his current tour – called Try Hard – how determined he was to make the jump to the legal bar. He bumped into magistrate Rachel Smith, 38, and her son Harry, 14, backstage in Sale, Manchester. Rachel said: “I couldn’t believe it – he put on such a wonderful show of courage, resilience and battled so hard to get where he did. His life story is inspirational.” She added: “It is irrelevant where he came in Calgary. It’s just like that feelgood movie Cool Runnings about the Jamaican bobsleigh team – he just went out there and did his damndest!”