The first male Olympic competitor on snowboard in Britain, Dan Wakeham has announced that he will be retiring from the world cup circuit. He has recently announced that following seven years with the British snowboarding team, he will be retiring from World Cup level competition. Dan Wakeham is only 27 years old, and was regularly regarded as being a potential hopeful for next year's Winter Olympic medal. The games are slated to be held in Vancouver.
Dan Wakeham said that the decision that he made to retire was one that he had been considering for a great deal of time. Ultimately, he said, what it came down to was a loss of motivation for the sport, a lack of funding and lack of interest in the top levels of competition, which definitely meant that the Olympics were out. After putting a lot of serious thought into the situation, Dan Wakeham ultimately decided that he did not want to pursue World Cup level snowboarding any longer. He specifically mentioned that he always felt motivated to quit at the end of each season, but that he stayed because of promises of sponsorship and funding.
The fact was, according to Dan Wake, that he simply had not been happy for a while, and that he no longer felt enjoyment when he competed. His attitude toward World Cup level snowboarding had become increasingly slack with each new season, partially because there was a lack of funding, but also for other reasons as well. Dan Wakeham admitted that he did not want to try to qualify for the Winter Olympic Games half-heartedly and that he simply is not motivated enough to give the sport his all.
In his entire seven years on the British professional snowboarding team, Dan Wakeham achieved a highest world ranking at 28th. Within his first two years of competition, he took Europa Cup Championship and he took fifth in the World Cup's 2006 Halfpipe Tour. He also recorded two different top ten and eight different top twenty results within World Cup finals tournaments and also made an Olympic appearance during the Turin 2006 Olympic Games.
Wakeham does insist that he will continue to represent those sponsoring him, and he says that he is still interested in working closely with the industry surrounding extreme sports. Right now, however, his priority is to find a little bit more consistency in his life.
When Dan Wakeham made his announcement regarding retirement, he confessed that his intention was not to quit snowboarding, but rather simply to step out of the serious competition arena. His sponsors are all accepting of the decision, and they do plan to continue supporting him as he represents them. Still, rather than snowboarding day in and day out, Dan Wakeham would like to focus on a normal job with a regular 9-5 kind of salary for a while.
Photo Credits: jeffcapeshop
Originally posted 2009-05-27 16:41:08. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Related Posts -
Athlete Profile of Bode Miller Date of Birth: October 12, 1977 Where Was He Born: Bretton Woods, NH Interesting Youth Highlights: Bodeâs parents took a novel approach to raising him and for many years they lived in a cabin without running water or electricity. He did not attend regular school until after his parents divorced....... - Athlete Profile: Seth Wescott Seth Wescott is the current snowboard cross gold medalist, and now in Arosa, Switzerland, he has the fastest runs, winning the SBX World Cup and earning 1000 cup points overall. This was the first World Cup win for the Maine native, who managed to out speed Markus Schairer, David Speiser......
-
Resort Profile Sunlight Mountain Resort, Glenwood Springs, CO Sunlight Mountain Resort is located in: Glenwood Springs, CO Phone: (970) 945-7491 / (800) 445-7931 Website: http://www.sunlightmtn.com/ About the Resort: The resort is named after a coal-mining town that disappeared in the 1900's. This luxury resort offers a truly authentic western atmosphere and hospitality, whose small town roots leave the...... - Skier Profile for Resi Stiegler Resi Stiegler was born on November 14, 1985 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming which is where she resides. She has been on the United States Ski Team for seven years now. She is an Alpine ski racer that first appeared in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. She grew up in prime......
-
Winter Park Resort, Winter Park, Colorado Winter Park Resort is located in Winter Park, Colorado in the United States Phone: (970) 726-5514 / (800) 729-5813 Website: http://www.skiwinterpark.com/index.htm About the Resort - Winter Park Resort offers an outstanding peak elevation of 12,060 with vertical heights reaching 3,060 feet. Winter Park Resort is spread across four different mountains......
Related Websites -
Rogers Cup Recap - ATP World Tour 1000 Masters Purse: $3,000,000 Hosted in: Montreal, Canada Hosted on: August 10, 2009 to August 16, 2009 Surface: Hard More Information: http://www.ATPWorldTour.com Results for August 16, Sunday Singles Final Results - Andy Murray of GBR defeated J Del Potro of ARG with 67 (4), 76 (3), 61 Doubles Final Results - M...... -
A Strong Week in Tennis for Champion Players This week, there were a few different kinds of games going on throughout the world. These different matches pitted some of the top ranked players in the world against one another to be able to earn the title. While these smaller tournaments might be dwarfed in the shadow of the...... - Unexpected Winner at Sawgrass One of the most flawless and brilliant games this weekend was played by Henrik Stenson in the Players Championship in Florida. It was one of the richest tournaments played at a whopping $12.6 million. In the beginning of the day, Stenson was working with a five stroke shortfall behind the......
-
Thanks to Roddick Everyone Wins at China Open This weekendâs China Open was a competitive test of skills for the players that participated and although Andy Roddick won, at the end of the day, it was the people affected by the earthquake early this year that took home the gold. As a gesture of goodwill, Roddick donated $25,000...... -
Rafael Nadal to Pull Out of Masters Cup Giving reasons of fatigue due to his knee injury as the reason for the surprising action, the world's number one tennis star Rafael Nadal has decided to withdraw himself from the Tennis Masters Cup. The athlete stated that the decision is a very difficult one for him to make, not......
- Santa Cruz Snowboards Snowboarding Winter Sports
- Holder Toys & Games Pool Fun Pools & Spas Yard, Garden & Outdoor Living
- Cheap Snowboards Snowboarding Winter Sports
- Rossignol Snowboards Snowboarding Winter Sports
- Motorized Toys & Games Pool Fun Pools & Spas Yard, Garden & Outdoor Living
Categories:
California, Male Profiles, Snowboarding
Tags:
0 comments ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment