97-year-old Charles Eugster has just set a new record in Britain. He holds the record for the fastest 100-meter sprint time – for competitors over 95. Eugster is also the first person to ever complete this race. This is how he found himself crossing the finish line.
When Eugster was 82, his wife Elsie passed away. “It felt like I had died with her,” Eugster admitted.
For the next three years, Eugster wasted his life away at home; he simply didn’t see any purpose or need to do anything. “I became convinced that I would die at 85,” he said.
But as the longer Eugster sat at home, the more he had time to think – and realize that he was completely wasting his life.
“I was bored and inactive, and both served to accelerate the decline in my physical function,” he noted. “I…concluded that, quite simply, our concept of retirement is little more than a slow death sentence.”
Eugster decided then, that in the absence of work or other people holding him responsible to do anything, he would find something to do and, in his words, “go back to work.”
For Eugster, this meant working on his health and physical fitness.
Though he was only in his 80s, he had accumulated a lot of body fat from sitting around in his house and could feel his muscles wasting away.
Eugster went to seek the help of former Mr. Universe and bodybuilder, Francois Gay. Gay was frank with him, asking about his age and telling him to get undressed so he could make an accurate assessment of Eugster’s physical state.
“It won’t be easy. Are you quite sure what you’re getting yourself into?” Gay asked Eugster at that first meeting.
“Whatever it takes,” was Eugster’s response.
Now, almost five years after Eugster decided to transform his body, his only regret is that he didn’t begin this process earlier.
Not only has he lost plenty of weight, but he’s also put on a significant amount of muscle and isn’t shying away from any sort of physical activity. Not only has Eugster set records for his running, but he’s also taken up wakeboarding.
“Having arrived in good shape, I can tell you right now that the future is a marvellous place to be.”
