Dan Purvis – artistic gymnast

Crosby born gymnast Dan Purvis is an international elite artistic gymnast, and three-time British all-around champion in men’s artistic gymnastics.

In 2012 Dan Purvis led the British team in qualifications for the European Championships in Montpelier, despite having been ill with food poisoning the previous night. After only three hours sleep he started the competition on vault and fell into a judge’s lap, he rallied, and went on to qualify with the highest all-around score. The team went on to win Britain’s first team gold in the finals.

Dan has recently opened his own gymnastics club called Dan Purvis Gymnastics which is based in the Nac Netherton and Dunes Southport.

My schools:
I attended Great Crosby Primary School and Sacred Heart Catholic College.

My favourite teacher:
Oh! that’s a difficult one, there have been so many great teachers and I couldn’t possibly pick out one.

Favourite subject at school:
Art and of course PE. I loved to draw as a kid but my main subject was PE.

Were you streetwise or a bit of a geek?
I was a shy boy in primary school but through gymnastics I made a lot of friends as I got older, it certainly helped that you were able to do backflips in the school playground.

My favourite childhood band/singer:
I love all types of music from Eminem to the Back Street Boys.

My favourite extra-curricular activity:
The Beavers, I loved it, but unfortunately I had to give it up as my commitments to
gymnastics became more and more in the way.

My favourite book:
George R R Martin’s Game of Thrones books and I am really looking forward to reading his latest book.

Do you remember your first school crush?
It was probably one of my teachers in reception! But I do remember an incident involving a Valentine’s day card which didn’t go down too well for me.

School dinners:
I really enjoyed school dinners and they certainly got more healthier as I got older, but I always remember the sausage butties we used to get at school, not very healthy but great to eat.

My ambitions at school:
I wanted to get as many GCSE’s as possible, I always knew that I was going to be a gymnast but I also wanted some qualifications to fall back on if things didn’t go to plan. Who knows I might even go on to further education and get some more qualifications!