A 61-year-old man who won the first bodybuilding competition he entered is urging others not to define themselves by their age.
Ian Fox, from Selsey in West Sussex, said he had always kept in shape but was encouraged to enter a bodybuilding competition after he started training at Imperium Strength Fitness in Chichester earlier this year.
He then won the over 50s category at the PCA First Timers event in Derby last weekend, earning an invitation to the world championships in Seville later this week.
He told BBC Radio Derby: “You are what you think, and whatever you think, you become.”
He added: “You define yourself by your age, and that’s what you shouldn’t do.”
Fox was full of praise for coach Marcelo Prado at Imperium Strength for supporting him as he prepared for the competition.
He said: “It was a bit daunting at first. I’d never done it before, I didn’t really know what to do, but you learn don’t you?”
Fox said he and his wife planned to travel to Seville for the event.
“You can’t let this go,” he stressed.
While the trip to Spain is a bonus, the Selsey resident said it was ultimately about challenging “the perception of what people in their 60s can achieve”.
“For me, there’s a bigger message here than bodybuilding,” he said.
“It’s about continuing to set yourself goals, having the courage to do something you’ve never done before and refusing to let your age dictate what’s possible.”
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