THERE are few lifestyles that are quite so disparate as that of celebrity and elite athlete; Louis Smith has had a taste of both and has chosen the latter. The Englishman has appeared in the showbiz columns of newspapers as much as the sports pages in recent years but it was the taste of the celebrity lifestyle that has convinced the 26-year-old that his immediate future lies in gymnastics.

Smith, from Peterborough, burst on to the scene when he won Commonwealth Games pommel horse gold in 2006 and from there his career sky-rocketed. At the 2008 Olympics, Smith won Britain’s first gymnastics medal for 100 years when he claimed bronze on the pommel horse. World and European medals followed before individual silver and team bronze at London 2012 seemed to signal the end of Smith’s illustrious career.

In the aftermath of the Olympics, Smith decided to take a break from the sport. Celebrity beckoned and when Smith won Strictly Come Dancing, it seemed unlikely that he would ever return to the daily slog that is an athlete’s life.

“When I took a break from gymnastics after the Olympics, I really loved it,” he said. “I loved being normal and I think I actually enjoyed it a bit too much. I needed a break after London because it had been such a crazy period; I just felt I needed time to work out what I wanted to do. Did I want to retire? But I realised that I wanted to get back into the sport. I really missed it.”

So at the start of last year, Smith announced he was returning to the gymnastics arena with the aim of competing at Glasgow 2014. Team gold and individual bronze at the Commonwealth Games capped a successful comeback but the Games did more than merely add to Smith’s medal collection. “The plan was that Glasgow 2014 would be my retirement competition. But I absolutely loved those Games and after it I thought, ‘I can’t stop now’. I realised retirement could wait.”

Men’s gymnastics in Britain has changed beyond recognition since Smith broke on to the scene; no longer is there one single gymnast flying the flag for GB, now there is a plethora of world-class athletes jostling for places and Smith has been the single most influential man in sparking that revival. However, his pedigree does not guarantee him selection for major competitions and it is a fact of which he is well aware.

“I train on my own and it’s sometimes quite hard to stay motivated but that fear of not making the team is what drives me,” he says. “I’ve not always been like that. Before the Beijing Olympics, my motivation was just to be the best I could be and then my next target was to do well at London 2012.

“But since I came back, my goal has just been to make the team. I don’t mind the younger guys nipping at my heels but I don’t like them beating me. The standard of gymnastics in Britain is brilliant and it’s great for the sport but it certainly makes my life a lot harder. Not being selected is the really scary thing for me.”

Smith gives off an air of utter self-confidence; he is groomed to within an inch of his life and seems very comfortable with his celebrity status. Yet he admits there are chinks in the armour.

“My self-belief is strong enough that when I came out of my break, I believed I could win more medals on the world stage. I wouldn’t have come back if I’d thought otherwise,” he says. “But the more articles you read and the more people you hear asking ‘can he do it? Is he good enough?’, you start questioning yourself. And because I wasn’t doing competitions, I couldn’t prove myself so I didn’t really know if I was still good enough.

“At my first competition back, I knew everyone was watching me, wondering how I’d perform. I did all right and I was so relieved because then I realised I was back on track.”

The real confirmation for Smith that he was back on form came at the European Championships in April when he won gold on the pommel horse. It was the Englishman’s first individual gold since he had returned to the sport and he admits it was a huge relief.

Smith may be back to medal-winning form but he is now the veteran of the GB team, surrounded as he is by gymnasts who are considerably younger than himself. Ageing is a challenge he admits that he contends with daily.

“The older you get, the harder training becomes,” he says. “And the harder it becomes, the less hours you can do so you have to be smarter in the way you train because I’m learning that I just can’t do as much as I used to. I need to do enough that I can still keep up with the youngsters but not so much that I’m broken. My body feels so sore and every day is a struggle. People always say life is boring if it’s easy but when it comes to training, I’d prefer an easier ride. But I suppose there’s no short way to success and when you do well in competitions, then you know the hard work has been worth it.”

Smith’s immediate target is the World Championships which begin in Glasgow on October 23; then he will look towards Rio 2016 and perhaps even as far as the 2020 Olympic Games. It’s one step at a time though.

“I know the Worlds in Scotland will be a great event but I’m still a bit apprehensive about it because I don’t know if I’m in the team yet,” he says. “Glasgow is a great venue though and f I could get a medal at the Worlds, it would be amazing. I’ve sacrificed so much for my sport. You realise just how much when you take a break but I don’t wish I could go back to that. It is hard but every athlete knows that. I still think it’s worth it.”

The 2015 World Gymnastics Championships will take place at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow from October 23 until November 1. For tickets, visit: 2015world gymnastics.com