Pulling lorries and deadlifting 380 kilos - but can Paul Smith become Britain's Strongest Man in home city of Sheffield

“It’s not the size of the vehicle that’s the problem, though,” says Sheffield’s Paul Smith, as if he were talking about pulling a wheelie bin to the end of his drive, “it’s how many axles the vehicle has.

“The more wheels on the ground the worse it is, you’d be better with one heavy truck rather than two tied together because with more axles it’s really tough to get going.”

Just in case you were ever wondering. Smith is one of the strongest men on the planet, he has twice appeared in the final of World’s Strongest Man - that annual television marvel that enchants us every festive season - so knows what he’s talking about.

“The big vehicle pulls are always spectacular,” he says, his own journey in strongman competition traceable back to the days sat watching World’s Strongest Man as a young boy with his dad.

“There’s a couple gadgets we’ve got that simulate the resistance that you can anchor to a floor or a wall. They’re not perfect.

“So the best way is to get a truck or a van or whatever you can find.

“A lot of HGV companies will be very accommodating. Fortunately for me I’ve got a guy I know who works for a haulage company in Dewsbury who I can call up and use one of the trucks.

“I’ve got a sponsor who I do a few demos with, pulling buses, tractors, all sorts of vehicles. Whenever I can get one of those it’s great for me because it’s a good show for the people and an extra training session for me.”

Smith is all about putting on a good show and strongman is very much an entertainment business.

It also, believes Smith, has the characteristics of a sport, with competition at its heart.

“It’s a product that’s made for TV, but it’s much more of a proper sport than it was,” says Smith, who is back in his home city this Saturday for Britain’s Strongest Man at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena.

“It’s definitely a proper sport now, because the guys are too good and too regimented. The guys are full-time and they’re professional athletes, and the competitions reflect that a lot more now, they’re a lot more organised and consistent.”

To Smith, preparing and competing in strongman events is his full-time job.

A good rugby union player with Sheffield RUFC in his youth, he lifted weights recreationally while still at school when he was spotted in a gym and advised to go to a strongman event in Stocksbridge.

“I’d always watched it and loved it, but I never knew there was anything grassroots below World’s Strongest Man,” says Smith.

“I’d only just turned 16 and although I didn’t do very well, I really enjoyed it and got onto the circuit properly after that.”

Staying at home while he went to university gave him time to train six days a week and eat properly - “having your mum cooking your tea for you was a much healthier place to be,” he laughs.

“I won a qualifier in January 2017 in the snow down in Northampton and my first British Championships was later that year at the Doncaster Dome,” he adds. “I went to my first worlds in 2018 in the Philippines. A bit more exotic than Doncaster.”

He had not been back to World’s Strongest Man until last summer when it was staged at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.

In between times, he won the UK Strongest Man title twice.

Saturday’s event is Britain’s Strongest Man, presented by a different company in Giants Live. Where the UKs is a three-day event, the Sheffield show is a short, sharp four-hour burst.

“Twelve men in it to win it straight away. I prefer the one-day events,” he says, even though conversely he has never won the shootout, having prevailed twice in the longer format.

“Getting through the rounds you can’t fully commit straight away, it becomes a little nervy, whereas the one-day shows it’s four hours, full blast all the way.”

Smith, who grew up not far from the arena in Fir Vale, has been eating 6,000 calories a day to prepare for Britain’s Strongest Man.

His wife Shannon, who is expecting their first child anytime now, was World’s Strongest Woman in her weight class in 2021. “ I’m not even the strongest in my house,” laughs Smith. “Shannon is a nutritionist. My diet is a lot better living with her.”

With a new baby due, it would be nice if dad Paul could head home tonight as Britain’s Strongest Man.

​Britain’s Strongest Man, all you need to know

It is the first event of the national Giants Live tour.

Sheffield’s Paul Smith is one of 12 competitors for the event which begins at 4pm today at Utilita Arena, Sheffield.

Competing alongside Smith in the event are Adam Bishop two-time World’s Strongest Man Tom Stoltman, Kane Francis, Luke Richardson, Mark Felix, Paddy Haynes, Graham Hicks, Pa O'Dwyer, Gavin Bilton, Sean Gillen, Connor Curran and Luke Stoltman.

Today’s disciplines are:

400 kilo deadlift

Clean and press with an axel bar, with two giant wheels on it, 160 kilos

Sandbag throw

Arm over arm pull, lifting an anvil up on a pulley

Atlas stones