Trickless Swaney just like Eddie the Eagle: IOC

Pyeongchang, February 21

Freestyle skier Elizabeth Swaney was compared to Eddie the Eagle today as an Olympics official defended her trickless performance in the halfpipe at the Pyeongchang Winter Games. American-born Swaney, representing Hungary via her mother, turned heads when she performed only basic turns without attempting any tricks in qualifying runs on Monday, when she finished dead last. 

Swaney’s showing raised questions about her qualification for the Olympics via a loophole. But International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said the 33-year-old deserved her place at the top table of winter sports. “If you’re British you’ll know the story of Eddie the Eagle, who soared into everyone’s hearts,“ said Adams. “Not making the best sporting performance but he took part in an elite competition.

“There is a proper system for qualification and we’ll continue to keep that, but we also need to leave the door open for universality because that’s what separates this event from a normal sporting event.“ In 1988, Eddie “the Eagle“ Edwards became Britain’s first Olympic ski jump competitor in 60 years, finishing last in both his events.

Who’s Eddie the Eagle?   

Eddie “the Eagle“ Edwards, the amateur British ski jumper gained worldwide fame when he competed at the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988. Edwards finished last in both the 70 and 90m hill events in 1988, but his endeavours to make himself a ski jumper in Britain, a country with no ski jumping facilities at all, made him famous around the world. His achievements were recently turned into a film, called Eddie the Eagle. — Reuters