I lifted my way to glory at England's Natural Strongman and brought the title back to Sunderland

Matei Trache, 22, from Castletown, has won the Juniors title at England’s Natural Strongest Man competition in Liverpool this month.

The victory adds to Matei’s already impressive record: he is the current World’s Strongest Man (Juniors), a title he has held since August 2025, when he won the World’s Natural Strongest Man competition which took place in Galway, Ireland.

He’s also the current record holder in Juniors category - 320 kg.

“I didn’t quite know how to feel when I won,” said Matei. “I went in there with my own personal goals that I wanted to get and I focused on those personal bests.”

Matei trains at New Level Gym in Pallion under coach Thomas Fisher and he says the camaraderie at the gym has really propelled him to the next level.

Speaking about how he got into the sport, Matei said: “I used to race mountain bikes, but when I went to sixth form I just didn’t have the time to get out on the bike so much but I still wanted to keep fit, so looked at gyms.

“I went to the likes of JD gyms and Pure and just didn’t enjoy it, it’s not what I was looking for. I looked up weightlifting gyms and New Level came up.

“I signed up and had a quick session and all the lads were just dead good craic and so canny. Everyone really roots for you.”

Matei did his first competition two years ago without a coach and has gradually worked his way up the table, with the thanks of his coach.

“Since I started working with Thomas Fisher, it’s been uphill since then,” he said.

Matei has a busy year of competitions ahead and he juggles training with studying Sport and Exercise Science at University of Sunderland, as well as being a trampoline coach at Apollo Gymnastics in Washington.