Eddie the Eagle

The afternoon

The greatest underdog story in British sport, told by the man himself.

Eddie Edwards became Eddie the Eagle in February 1988 at the Calgary Winter Olympics, where he finished last in the ski jumping, and in doing so became more famous than almost anyone who had finished first. He was Britain's first ski jumper, a self-funded amateur competing against athletes who had been training in ski jump specialist facilities for two decades, and he did it with a kind of cheerful persistence that captured the entire world's attention during that fortnight.

The career after Calgary was unexpected. He became a motivational speaker, a subject of a major film, a plasterer back in his home town of Cheltenham, and one of the most recognisable sports figures in the country. The point he makes consistently, in every interview and every speaker event, is that the story was never really about finishing last. It was about the fact that he had gone to the Olympics at all, something nobody expected of him and something he had to make happen against every reasonable obstacle.

At Steam, his lunches are a mix of genuine sporting memoir and comedy, which is the perfect fit for the room. He is a brilliant public speaker with decades of practice and an absolutely genuine good nature that comes through in the first five minutes.

How the afternoon runs

What's included

• Welcome drink on arrival
• Three course set menu
• Q&A with Eddie the Eagle
• Photo opportunity

Dress code: Smart. No trainers (Eddie's joke, not ours).

Dietary requirements: Let us know when you book. Everything can be adapted.