A legendary Olympian, whose life story was turned into a film, descended on a Billington school for an “inspirational” awards night.

Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards, a former ski jumper, was the guest of honour at St. Augustine's RC High School's sports presentation.

This is the first time the awards evening has taken place since the pandemic and was the school’s 14th annual sports presentation.

Pupils and parents were said to be thrilled at the opportunity to meet Eddie.

A spokesperson for the school said the evening was a great success and added: “It was the culmination of our students' hard work and dedication to sport this past year.

“The evening showcased some of the fantastic talent and ability within our school and was sponsored this year by Pendle Ski Club.”

St. Augustine's has its own sporting success stories, including sisters Louisa and Helena R, who have been selected for the British Schools Ski Squad for 2024/2025, representing the school at both indoor in the UK and alpine in Italy in February.

George K is now the schoolboy's U46kg Hull International Box Cup champion. Sophia B played for England against the Netherlands over the half-term and George W was crowned Lancashire Schools under-18s individual golf champion!

Andrew Parkinson, head of P.E. At St. Augustine's said, "It was an unbelievable night on Tuesday as we held our 14th Annual sports presentation evening at St. Augustine’s - our very special guest was the one and only Eddie 'The Eagle' who was as generous and inspirational as anyone could be. A huge congratulations to all of our pupils!"

In 1988, Eddie became the first competitor to represent Team GB in Olympic ski jumping, finishing last in the Normal Hill and Large Hill events. He held the British ski jumping record from 1988 to 2001.

In 2015 a film about his ski jumping journey, called Eddie the Eagle, was released. Taron Egerton played Eddie in the film.