Dan Wakeham on the Olympics

Dan Wakeham did us proud at the Olympics coming 26th out of 44 riders in the halfpipe on Sunday 12th February. There's certainly no taking anything away from his road to and performance at the 20th Winter Olympics. We had a chance to get some words from Dan after his run.

So what was it like competing at the Winter Olympics?

It still hasn't totally soaked in. It was no different to any other World Cup other than the fact that there was so much hype! I thought that i was going to be really nervous but I wasn't too bad, not as nervous as I was when i took my driving test. I think the crowd helped because I am a bit of a show off.

We heard Princess Anne watched your run.

I went to a posh drinks doo and met her. I don't really care much for Royalty, but she was nice enough. She seemed interested to talk to me, asked me a lot about snowboarding and then she came and watched me compete. When we met her we were given Team GB suits and Olympic ties. I think that will be some thing that I will keep and wear every time I have to wear a suit (which isn't often) even when I get old, fat and struggle to get in to it!

Did the pressure get to you at all?

While I have been abroad I havent seen the hype towards the Olympics on the TV. Apparently I have been on TV and in the press a lot. I just came here and did what I had to do. I am thinking that it will all start to soak in when I get back to Plymouth and watch all of the recorded coverage that I have had.

Were you pleased with your result?

I am not as good as some of the other guys and I knew that before I went so I didn't have any high hopes. My only real aim was to not come dead last. If I had I would have been gutted. So I was happy with the result I got. I have more technical runs that I could have done, but they aren't as consistent. I went for it a bit on the first run, but then calmed down a bit on the second and played safe. I just tried to do a nice clean big styled run. The comentator comented on how stylee my run was and that meant a lot to me!

Was it good to have the support from the crowd and from us at home?

After my first run I went back the top of the and pipe my phone was going mad. I got so many text messages. I spoke to my mate Tommy and he was in a pub in Plymouth and he shouted "I have got Wakeham on the phone". All I could hear was cheering and shouting like football fans when a goal is scored. That was a good feeling!

What's next?

I am gonna head home and chill out for a few weeks because after that I have a heavy trip planned. I fly to Lake Placid (nr New York) for a World Cup, then back to Switzerland for three days to compete at the British Champs, then straight to Japan for the World Cup finals. That's a lot of traveling. After that I will be burned out!

Thanks Dan.

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Interview by Duncan Worrell and Spencer Claridge. First published, 15th February 2006.