SPORTS minister Richard Caborn has ruffled the feathers of legendary ski-jumper Eddie the Eagle by branding him a bad example to Winter Olympic athletes.

Speaking at the start of the Turin games, Mr Caborn took a swipe at Eddie, who lives with his family in North Woodchester.

"I think we are duty bound to be represented but I don't want any Eddie the Eagles going down the slopes either," he said.

"If we put a team in we put a team in to do reasonably well."

When the SNJ informed him of Mr Caborn's unsportsmanlike remarks a shocked Eddie hit back, saying the games were all about taking part.

"I can see what he is trying to say but I was the best athlete at that time" said the 42-year-old plasterer, who famously came last in the 1988 Calgary Olympics and will be commenting in Turin this weekend.

"It doesn't matter if I was number 10 or 10,000, it was the taking part that counted.

"I had no money or any real training facilities - getting to the Olympics was my gold medal."

In fact Eddie believed his popularity stemmed from the fact that he embodied the Olympic ethos of participation.

"I'd like to think it was because I exemplified the Olympic spirit," he said.

"I was a ski-jumper from Britain, where there were no ski-jumps or snow.

"It was scary and I was always scared but never enough not to do it."

Nailsworth's Olympic marathon man Dan Robinson also felt Mr Caborn's comments were grossly unfair.

"It was very harsh to pinpoint him," said Dan, 31, who is currently training for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games next month.

"Going to the Olympics is the highlight of a sporting career - you've got to hand it to Eddie he put his body on the line."

And Stroud MP David Drew also sympathised with Eddie.

"It's dangerous to personalise things," said Mr Drew.

But he added that Britain did need to drastically improve.

"Eddie got people watching the sport but we should be making better strides," he said.

"Since the success of Torvill and Dean it has all been a bit depressing."

Eddie became the star of the Calgary games in Canada - even though he scored less than half the points of any other competitor.

He became an instant household name and went on to inspire thousands in the UK to start skiing.

Eddie, who is married to Samantha, 38, and has an 18-month-old daughter Ottilie, even wrote a book - Eddie's on the Piste - and released a

single, Fly Eddie Fly.

A Hollywood film of his life is now in the pipeline.