Eddie the Eagle

If you are in your sport for your country, you should be able to go to the Olympic Games and represent your sport for your country bringing people together in the interests of sport. It's a fantastic Olympic ideal, and I uphold it as much as I can. ”

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 was a latchkey kid. Every afternoon, I would walk home from school, let myself in, make myself a banana buttie, and watch telly until Mum came home. ”

That James Bond movie? The one where Bond skis off a cliff, shucks his skis, and parachutes to the ground? That's for me. That's what I want to be. A stuntman in a Bond movie. ”

The press portrayed me as a joke and a clown. ”

My mum was wonderful. ”

I don't like bullies or selfishness or people who are grumpy. ”

It's nice and restful, plastering. ”

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. ”

Maybe I am a little bit of a clown, but I am also a serious sportsman. ”