A lot of people think I'm really outgoing and confident, but I'm not. I'd much rather sit in a corner and read my book and my paper. I'm quite happy with my own company.

My dentist said my teeth were wearing away at the back because I couldn't bite. My top jaw was broken and brought forward, and my bottom jaw was broken and put back.

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.

We were not rich by any means. My dad was a plasterer and worked long hours - I hardly ever saw him when I was growing up. He had always gone to work before I woke up, and usually, I would be in bed before he came home.

It had been a dream of mine to go to an Olympic Games since I was about seven years old. I didn't know I'd do it ski jumping, but that's how it turned out.

There are so many world-class athletes who are great at their sport, but they're so boring. They don't talk, and they can't be interviewed very well.

I can't explain my popularity. I suppose I'm just an ordinary bloke, and a lot of people see a little bit of Eddie in themselves.

I broke my jaw jumping, and I broke my back and my neck in the downhill. This is normal for me.

You have to take the rough with the smooth - that's what ski-jumping is all about. You always expect the worst.

I want to be recognised as exemplifying the Olympic spirit - one of the last true Olympians.

I was exemplifying the Olympian who took up a challenge as a sportsman, without a trainer, in a country without mountains and without snow. And, inside of two years, I was representing my country.

I travelled the world because of the way people saw me at the Olympics.

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.

Some people thought I was bringing the sport down. I don't think so. I was the best and only jumper my country had.

I don't want to look like Michael Jackson.

People really aren't interested in the way I look. It's my personality they like.

I have a big chin. Thick glasses.

I want to prove to the skeptics that I'm not a clown. I'm very serious about what I do. I want to be a good ski jumper who has a sense of humor.

I would never think of asking a girl out on the High Street or the disco or at school. But on the ski slope, I would chat to all the girls.

You can't have Alan Partridge as Eddie the Eagle!

I've had an operation on my jaw - I don't have the big jaw anymore - and I've also had an operation on my eyes.

The failures are the people who never get off their bums.

When I started competing, I was so broke that I had to tie my helmet with a piece of string. On one jump, the string snapped, and my helmet carried on farther than I did. I may have been the first ski jumper ever beaten by his gear.

Life is good, and I'm happy, and I don't know that it would be as good if I'd been the winner in Calgary.