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

• Skier Profile: Picabo Street Picabo Street may be best known for her funny name, but she was a serious skier that not only brought home the gold on many occasions, but also had a famous ski run named after her. Not many skiers have been afforded that honor, and although she’s now retired, Picabo’s......
• 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......
• Skier Profile for Steven Nyman Steven Nyman was born and raised in Provo, Utah. His father ran the ski school located at Sundance so he began skiing at the age of two. He launched his United States Ski Team career with two medals and took a World Cup win in 2007 to show how much......
• Skier Profile for Lindsey Vonn Lindsey Vonn was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on 10/18/1984. Her hometown, however, is Vail Colorado which is where she got her start in skiing. She has been skiing for a total of nine years, and has claimed titles both as a junior and upon reaching adulthood as well. Lindsey......

Related Websites

• Player Profile: Fred Couples Fred Couples may not have the star power of some of today’s younger players, but for many, his path to becoming one of the most well respected professionals is the game is inspirational. Couples is known for getting in there and doing his job, and this strategy has paid off......
• 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......
• Spain Victorious at Davis Cup for 2nd Consecutive Year Spain won the Davis Cup on Sunday with a decisive 5-0 victory over the Czech Republic with singles wins by Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer. Nadal won the first matchup with Tomas Berdych on Friday, and Ferrer won a 5-set victory over Radek Stepanek which upped Spain's Friday lead to......
• Djokovic is Riding a Wave Right Into the Shanghai Masters Tournament Novak Djokovic just recently arrived in Shanghai during this past Monday only hours away from taking a weekend title while playing in Beijing and then heading along for a return back to third in the world's rankings, unfortunately at the expense of the injured Scot star, Andy Murray. Novak Djokovic,......
• Patrick McEnroe, Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka Patrick McEnroe, captain of the United States Davis Cup team may not be able to field his B team in the first round meeting to be held in Switzerland. With the chance for Roger Federer stepping into the arena March 6 through March 8. Federer is expressing interest thanks to......

Online Stores

• 1930 Sport Phaeton Edsel Hybrid Cars & Trucks
• Polo Sport Gym Bags Gym, Workout & Yoga Exercise & Fitness
• Iron Grip Olympic Benches Strength Training Gym, Workout & Yoga Exercise & Fitness
• Elan Snowboards Snowboarding Winter Sports
• Discount Snowboards Snowboarding Winter Sports

If you liked this article, vote for it on del.icio.us and stumbleupon.




Categories:

California, Male Profiles, Snowboarding

Tags:

competitor, europa cup, highest world ranking, hopeful, lack of interest, level competition, loss of motivation, olympic appearance, olympic games, olympics, promises, seven years, snowboard, snowboarding team, sponsorship, wakeham, winter olympic games, winter olympic medal, world cup circuit, world cup finals