WHEN Louis Smith steps out to compete at 2015 World Gymnastics Championships this weekend, the reigning European pommel horse champion insists it won't even come close to being the most formidable Glasgow crowd he has faced.
That came when he took part in the Strictly Come Dancing Live tour a couple of years back: sparkly sequinned costume, Cuban heels and all.
"I rolled my ankle once or twice, I don't know how you girls wear heels and go dancing in nightclubs – it always amazes me," he mused. "I would be quite happy if I never had to wear Cuban heels again."
Then there was the doting audience who wanted to do a little more than pinch his cheek. "I had grannies kissing me on the face afterwards," recalled Smith. "I thought they were just coming for a hug and they were trying to kiss me on the face. You've got to keep them happy – I don't mind."
The 26-year-old Olympic silver medallist is rather fond of Glasgow having competed there on many occasions since his teens. "At my first World Cup I was about 15 – the Glasgow Grand Prix at Kelvin Hall. Glasgow was my first time competing against my idol Marius Urzica – I almost beat him as well.
"Glasgow is fantastic. You guys are crazy. I danced here for Strictly and it was the smallest arena, but the loudest out of all the places we went to up and down the country."
There will be no sequins or Cuban heels at the SSE Hydro on Sunday morning when the Great Britain men's team begin their campaign. With a top eight team placing vital to secure a spot for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, individual aspirations will be temporarily set aside in pursuit of the collective ambition.
"Because Rio's so important, the biggest goal for me is qualifying a team spot which is why I'm choosing to do my easy routine in qualification and post a good score," said Smith. "Secondary targets are all individual targets. No one want to miss out on the chance to go to Rio, so the most important thing is that we do our jobs, qualify for the team final and secure that spot."
Smith is joined in the six-strong men's team by Daniel Purvis, who took gold for Team Scotland on parallel bars at the Commonwealth Games last summer, world all-around silver medallist Max Whitlock and European floor champion Kristian Thomas.
It also includes five-time European junior champion Nile Wilson and European Games bronze medallist Brinn Bevan.
Smith, who alongside Purvis, Whitlock and Thomas was part of the Team GB side which took a historic bronze at London 2012, professed to be feeling "confident and consistent" about his form.
"I haven't failed a routine yet in the last four weeks in training or all of the competitions we have done," he said. "I have done nine out of nine clean competition routines this year. My consistency is there. I feel good and ready to go out there and show the world what I can do."
While competing in the same arena as Glasgow 2014 does have its advantages, Smith concedes: "It's not like a Formula One track where we have to remember each corner."
The home crowd, though, is a different story. "We are the boys that everyone is going to be cheering for," he said. "It's a win-win situation – all we have got to do is our routines and not let anyone down."
This year's world championships will see Kohei Uchimura of Japan go for a record sixth consecutive all-around title. The reigning Olympic champion is known to strive for perfection.
"I don't think he is from this planet," said Smith. "He is a superhuman. I think secretly at night he dresses up in costumes and saves people from fires, burning buildings and stuff like that. The guy is a legend. He is unbelievable."
But equally – with Great Britain's Whitlock looking in strong form – Smith had a bold message for the Japanese sporting superstar: "If you are reading this? Then be worried, bro …" Consider the gauntlet, duly thrown down.
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