A NORWEGIAN-based former Todmorden man will take a leap of faith live on TV – and enter the record books at the same time.

James Lambert, 45, is set to become the oldest competitor in ski jumping’s World Championships when he leaps for Great Britain in Oslo next week,.

Lambert, who broke Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards’ British ski jump record of 73.5 metres when he flew 81 metres in 1994 and regained it from Glen Pedersen two year ago, is a member of the GB team at the Nordic Ski World Championships – and will tackle the famous Holmenkollen hill at the event on Friday and again on March 2.

The Holmenkollen ski jump is the world’s second oldest jump and is surrounded stands for 50,000. The current record on the hill of 142.5 meters was achieved by Anders Jacobsen of Norway earlier this month.

And while Lambert, who left Todmorden as an 18-year-old in 1983, is highly unlikely to challenge anything close to that mark, he could extend his British distance record in 2009.

He set the record during the International Masters Champion-ships annual Summer Grand Prix in the Alpine town of Einsiedeln in Switzerland, when he soared to 93 metres off the 117 metre hill. He also managed to grab two bronze medals on the day.

After leaving Todmorden so long ago, Lambert said Norway was most definitely his home now – but he still kept close ties with the area.

“My family all live in Todmorden. I am always on Facebook and Skype talking to them,” he said. “I do sometimes get homesick .

“I have a good laugh, visit a few pubs and get some energy in the tank and then I go back to Norway.”

But the sport is difficult for Lambert as he still lives in the shadow of Edwards some three decades on.

“It is something I have heard for 20 years and it still holds me back,” he said. “I cannot get a sponsor – as soon as I call a sponsor it is, ‘English ski jumper? Eddie The Eagle? I do not think so’.

“Yet, I am the first Brit ever to jump over 100 metres so I can comfortably say I am the best ever ski jumper from Great Britain.”

The ski jumping is on British Eurosport next Friday and again on Wednesday, March 2.