Eddie the Eagle: We give Winter Olympians too much cash ... it doesn’t even snow here!
YOU might expect him to offer warm words of encouragement – but Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards has delivered a rather frosty verdict on Britain’s Winter Olympics team.
Edwards, who found fame after competing at the 1988 Calgary Games, says Britain has spent too much on its athletes in Pyeongchang, insisting we are not a ‘Winters nation’.
Team GB remains one short of its medal target of five, and sits 17th in the table with one gold and three bronze medals behind countries including Slovakia, Belarus and the Czech Republic. Britain has a record 59 athletes in South Korea, who received record funding of £28.4million. By contrast, Edwards, 54, was working as a plasterer when, entirely selffunded, he qualified for the 1988 Winter Olympics. He finished last in both his events.
He told BBC Radio 2: ‘Britain aren’t a “Winters” nation. I can agree with people who think ‘‘should we be spending this kind of money, especially on winter sports?’’
‘While we should be supporting our athletes we shouldn’t be spending tens of millions of pounds on trying to keep up with the Austrians, with the Swiss, with the Germans, who have got the snow and the facilities. It shouldn’t be an open wallet and spending tens of millions of pounds just to try and compete with them when it’s going to be very difficult. I think we’re spending too much in our sporting arena ... but good luck to our athletes anyway.’
Last night a British Olympic Association spokesman said: ‘It is not good enough to just say “we are not a nation that has snow, so let’s not try and be better”.
‘We can only be better with increased funding and it is making an enormous difference. I would like to see more, not less.’
Team GB retains high hopes of winning a fifth medal in the women’s curling. Eve Muirhead’s side play Sweden in the semi-final today.