MovieChat Forums > Eddie the Eagle (2016) Discussion > This Is More Common Than People Know

This Is More Common Than People Know

posted 9 years ago by AltaireIII
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The Olympics try to encourage every nation to develop their athletic talent. In some sports every nation can enter at least 1 man and 1 woman in 1 event only. That makes for some interesting outcomes.

In track & field and swimming there are competitors from third world nations that would easily lose to high school athletes from Europe, North America, and Australia. These high school athletes have no shot at the Olympics.

Eddie the Eagle is one of these athletes and he comes from a strong sporting nation vs. a nation with weaker sporting history.

[–] sarahb2 9 years ago

Actually I'm not sure this is true anymore. I know that at the time, the reason Eddie even got in was that you didn't have to actually medal at a previous event to qualify for the Olympics. After Eddie competed and seriously risked turning the Olympics into a live snuff film, the rules were changed so that to compete you had to actually win a competition in your chosen sport.