Nickname
Danny, Dan, The Postman [by teammates because he delivers good performances]. (Twitter profile, 02 Jun 2016; bbc.co.uk, 29 Oct 2015; mtc-uk.com, 03 Aug 2014)
Occupation
Coach
Spoken languages
English
Sporting relatives
His father Bob played football at youth level for Grimsby Town in England. His mother Denise played netball for Dundee in Scotland. (telegraph.co.uk, 06 May 2016)
Start sporting career
He began doing gymnastics at age seven.
Reason for taking up the sport
His parents wanted to find a sport for him to do that would use up a lot of his energy. "My older brother Richard played football. My mum and dad thought they'd try to do the same thing with me but I was terrible at football. I didn't really have a clue. One of the teachers recommended going to a gym and from there I just took to it."
Most memorable sporting achievement
Winning bronze in the team event at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and claiming gold on parallel bars at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. (Twitter profile, 02 Jun 2016; heraldscotland.com, 20 Sep 2015)
Hero / Idol
Japanese gymnast Kohei Uchimura, English footballer Steven Gerrard. (teamgb.com, 12 Sep 2012)
Most influential person in career
His parents. (telegraph.co.uk, 06 May 2016)
Additional information
RETIREMENT
He announced his retirement from competitive gymnastics in February 2019. "It's a surreal feeling retiring. It's a scary feeling knowing that I won't be training, competing and doing what I have loved to do for many years. I am certainly going to miss it but on the other hand I have been fortunate enough to start on the elite Athlete to Coach transition programme which I'm really excited about and I'm looking forward to those new gymnastics' challenges ahead." (british-gymnastics.org, 18 Feb 2019)
SCOTTISH TIES
As the son of a Scottish mother and an English father, he enjoys spending time with his Scottish relatives when they attend competitions. They tease him because he trains in England but competes for Great Britain or Scotland, depending on the competition. "I'm always trying to explain the different elements of gymnastics to them but they normally just end up asking about what leotard I'm going to be wearing and teasing me for that." (heraldscotland.com, 21 May 2016)
Last update : 2023-09-22
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