PEMBROKESHIRE’S first ever Winter Olympian has spoken to the Western Telegraph about his ‘unbelievable’ experience in Sochi 2014.

Bruce Tasker, who formed part of the Team GB four-man bobsleigh team that finished in fifth place at the games, returned to his roots on Tuesday morning when he visited his former secondary school in Greenhill , Tenby.

And the 26-year-old, who gave a series of talks to pupils about his career in the sport, said he was pleased to have the opportunity to return to his roots.

“It’s a great chance for me to enjoy the moment and thank people for the tremendous support they showed me in the build up to Sochi,” said Bruce.

“In the build up to the games we were hidden away from the media furore a bit so that we did not lose our focus on the job in hand.

“But I was aware through Facebook and Twitter just how excited people were getting.”

Bruce and his teammates spent the build up to the games at a training camp in Germany, before travelling to Russia days before their event was due to take place.

“I am very glad we did that,” he said.

“We were one of the last events on so it was important we didn’t start building up and getting anxious too early.

“Obviously in the back of our minds was the fact we were about to compete in the Winter Olympics, the pinnacle of our sport, but it was important to try and treat it like any other race.

The quarter of Bruce, John Jackson, Joel Fearon and Stuart Benson performed admirably to finish fifth, but Bruce admits to mixed feelings when he reflects on the event.

“We performed to our capabilities and beat some great teams – and where we finished was fair,” he admitted.

“It was an unbelievable experience but obviously there is disappointment to have got so close to a medal and then missed out.

“But that’s bobsleigh for you, it can all come down to just hundreds of a second.”

Bruce is now widely tipped to replace Jackson as the driver of the team as the team look to build on their success in Sochi.

“I intend to start next season as the driver and see how it works out,” he said.