Exmouth bodybuilder Guy Clifford-Harding is quite literally ‘on top of the world’ after his latest success, which came on American soil, writes Steve Birley.

Just six weeks after being crowned British Champion, the 25-year-old has now landed the title of World Champion and Mr Atlas!

Guy flew over to Texas and, as the only Briton there, competed along with bodybuilders representing some 30 countries.

When asked as to what, if any, differences there are between bodybuilding competitions in the USA compared to those in the UK, Guy replies: “The biggest difference is that they [the Americans] make it so much more of a show! In Texas they had a band and the US Navy Seals were there to give support. There was also an air display, which all helped to make it quite a spectacle!”

As the only Brit at the event, Guy was given terrific support by the locals! He says: “The Americans were simply amazing. I was inundated with requests for pictures and from folk wanting to help with the tan rubbing!

“What struck me was how supportive they all were towards the bodybuilders and it is clearly a much-loved sport in the US.”

We asked Guy what was his inspiration to cross the Atlantic to try to gain the coveted Mr Atlas award, to which he responded: “From a young age my grandad always use to tell me about a Mr Atlas and then, when I did discovered that there was a Mr Atlas competition, it gave me extra motivation to win the title for him to make him proud!”

As for any issues with regard to the amount of travelling Guy did to get to Texas and any interruption to his pre-tournament planning, he said: “All the travelling did make competing harder, but I had had my flights booked for night-time, so I slept most of the time we were in the air and that certainly helped!

“I did get there on the Thursday and, with the competition not until the Sunday, I had a couple of days to prepare for it all.”

So, now that Guy is British Champion, World Champion and Mr Atlas – what next for the Exmouth bodybuilder?

He says: “I now head into what is known across the discipline as the body building ‘off-season’. In this period I will no doubt grow to 21 stone, which will mean eventually cutting back down to prepare for the big stage next year when I plan to go back to the States to defend the coveted Mr Atlas title.”