EDDIE THE EAGLE HEADS TO ROYAL WOOTTON BASSETT

Olympian Eddie The Eagle will be the guest speaker at an open business networking event in Royal Wootton Bassett early in 2023.

Organised and sponsored by Professional Connections of Wiltshire, Eddie will be the star attraction at the event which takes place on Wednesday February 2 at the Marsh Farm Hotel. 

Chris Pugh, founder of P?rofessional Connections of Wiltshire (or PCW), said:

“Post lockdown and following these turbulent few years in business, we now felt it was the right time to invest in an open event by our not-for-profit business referral group. Any business owner is welcome to attend for some networking and to listen to an amazing speaker who can share a story we all ‘think’ we know!”

Eddie Edwards, also known as Eddie 'the Eagle' was a British skier and Olympian who was the first Briton to compete in the Olympic ski jumping challenge. Born in Gloucestershire, he made his first attempt to join the British Olympic team in 1984, narrowly missing out on a place on the downhill skiing team. 

Resilient Eddie did not give up. Instead, he moved to the US and continued his training as a downhill skier, however, a lack of funding quickly put an end to this dream. Realising that there were no other British contestants for Olympic ski jumping, Eddie decided to pursue the ski jump event, making him the only possible GB candidate for the ’88 Games.

Eddie first represented Great Britain at the 1987 World Championships and ranked 55th in the world. He rapidly caught the attention of the British public during the 1988 Olympic Games. By the end of the Games, he was the best ski jumper in the UK, holding the record at 73.5 metres. Eddie’s story came to the fore once again in 2016 when a film was released about his journey to the Olympics as the world’s most famous underdog at the time. It was called ‘Eddie The Eagle’ and starred actors Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman. 

PCW is a business networking group which meets fortnightly at the Marsh Farm Hotel on a Friday morning from 9am. It operates as a not for profit organisation and also has a single seat policy even though this event is open to all. 

The event will involve networking, a charity raffle, finger food buffet and a bar is available. Eddie will be the guest speaker and will take questions and answers from those who attend. To book for this event visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/open-networking-with-eddie-the-eagle-tickets-460737326747