Eddie the Eagle and His Fight Against the Forces of Nature _1_lower

The air is crisp this winter morning as Eddie looks up at the mountains that surround Calgary. It is there he will do battle today. Today is his final event in the 1988 Olympic Games. His nerves are controlled only by his determination to be an Olympian. Eddie does not actually believe he will win a medal today. He just wants to do his best. He wants to honor his home country of Great Britain. This year he is the only member of his country’s ski jump team.

Hours later, the lonely figure of a skier enters the start house atop the snow-covered mountain. He wipes down his skies one last time. He places the skis on the ground and steps into the bindings. With goggles and poles checked, he readies himself for the start buzzer. At the sound of the buzzer, the skier pushes off hard from the gate. The crowds cheering him on cannot help him now. All that matters is his battle with the forces of nature.

For a ski jumper, it’s all about understanding forces. Once the skier pushes off, every movement is important. The goal is to reach the bottom of the ramp with as much speed as possible. At the end of the ramp, the skier will launch himself up. Once in flight, one force is no longer at play, but others still are. The fate of the skier rests on his ability to control those forces.

While at the start gate, all forces are balanced. How do we know? Simple! The skier has not yet started to move. That will all end soon as the timer counts down: 3… 2… 1… Start! The skier lunges forward and starts his descent down the specially constructed takeoff ramp known as an ‘inrun’. You might think it is all up to gravity, but you would be wrong. Other forces are at work too.