The Bejing Oympic Games is just over this year’s horizon and London 2012 is ever in the news.

So, media chat is afloat with names - past heroes, future potential stars. But we remembered this week a big name from the 1980s,with a rather unique pedigree. Well, actually, he didn’t have a pedigree at all … but he was perhaps the forerunner of our Big Brother generation of today.

Do you remember the 1988 Winter Olympics, in Calgary, Canada? It was the year that Eddie the Eagle, Britain’s lone Olympic ski jumper, turned non achievement into stardom. His best jump was 73.5m, he finished 98th out of 98. But - he caught the public imagination; he hit the headlines. He trained for Calgary without any funding and with very few facilities. Britain didn’t (and still doesn’t) have a ski jump. In a recent Guardian interview, Eddie was asked if he ever thought of giving up, when in Calgary. His reply was straightforward: “No, I never contemplated quitting”.

Where is he now? Eddie (real name Michael Edwards) is running his own building business as well as earning a living as a motivational and after dinner speaker. His autobiography, On the Piste, is being made into a film, written by and starring Steve Coogan.

Eddie straddles an interesting sporting place – between the elite athlete, representing his or her country, and the individual playing sport just for fun. Our sports industry also has to bestride that space. We have a key role in supporting, nurturing and encouraging those gifted sports people who will get to the top of their chosen sport and win the medals which make us all feel proud. But we also have to provide facilities and encouragement for the many, many more people who play for other reasons - to get or stay fit, to be part of a team, to enjoy themselves.

Eddie the Eagle landed well. Let’s remember him, and his moment of fame, as we work as an industry to provide for the millions following sport for its own sake - and for their own good.