THE parents of Trowbridge sprinter Danny Talbot will be watching with immense pride as he gets ready to take part in the Olympic games in Rio - from the comfort of their sofa.

Margaret, 50 and Richard Talbot, 52 say the news of him competing has not yet sunk in but, along with their daughter Michelle, the family will be cheering Danny on when he runs his first heat in the 200m on August 16.

His mum feels taking part in the London 2012 Olympics as part of the relay team has put the lad dubbed the Trowbridge Tornado on good footing to compete in Rio.

Mrs Talbot, who is the head receptionist at Oasis Dentalcare on Stallard Street, said: "Since the 2012 games, he has so much more experience and he has another four years under his belt and I think he is in better shape now than ever before.

“We are extremely proud of him. He is just our Dan to us, sometimes we have to look at each other and say ‘is that our son on the television?’ We probably see him more on the TV than we do in real life and we are so excited to watch him in Rio.”

The 25-year-old grew up in Trowbridge, and played football for Trowbridge Town from the age of five, alongside boxer Nick Blackwell. The pair are also good friends with Trowbridge’s Premiership footballer Nathan Dyer.

Mrs Talbot added: “When he was put in the B team at football Danny was left absolutely devastated. His coach said he wasn’t a natural footballer but was a brilliant runner and we took it from there.

“He started quite late for athletics and he just went from strength to strength and before we knew it, he was wearing a vest and running for his country.

“He’s been running for about 10 years now and we’ve never got used to him taking part in races and we still get really nervous. A lot of the times we have been to competitions we don’t get to see him because they whizz him off for interviews. If I was there I would run over the track and give him a hug – but I know he would die of embarrassment.”

The former St Augustine’s pupil now lives near his training base in Loughborough, but came home last weekend and caught up with friends, family and his girlfriend before he flew out to Brazil on Saturday.

The Talbots say they never expected the town to support their son in the way they have and hope that people get behind him when he takes part in solo race in two weeks’ time.

“This is what Danny has worked for since he was 11 or 12 but above everything he is still our Dan,” his mum added. “He is a very humble person and is quite private: he is just a nice lad.

“Over the years, he has had such a lot of support from Trowbridge and it is really nice to see the town get behind him. Although it would be lovely to go to Rio and watch him, we are all going to gather around the TV with our family and friends and watch him race.”