Charles Eugster, elderly bodybuilder and athlete obituary

Charles Eugster, who has died aged 97, spent his entire working life as a dentist before taking up bodybuilding in his late eighties; he went on to set a new record for the 200m and 400m sprint in the over-95 category.

Though, as a keen rower and accomplished skier, Eugster had never been idle in his younger days, his obsession with physical fitness really began when he was 63. “One morning, I looked in the mirror”, he recalled, “and realised I’d become a balding, self-satisfied lump of lard.”

He took up competitive rowing for the first time since his student days, but the effort left him short of breath. A doctor diagnosed heart arrhythmia and advised a change in regime. At 87, by now retired and a widower, Eugster joined a bodybuilding club and hired a former Mr Universe as his coach.

The results were dramatic. Within 12 months, Eugster had gained a six-pack. Over the next decade he won over 100 fitness trophies, performing more dips, chin-ups and abdominal crunches within the allotted 45-second time frame than any of his rivals. In March 2015, less than a year after taking up running, he set a new age group world record by finishing the indoor 200m in 55.48 seconds. That July, at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, he ran the 100m in 23.78 seconds.

Eugster was the first to admit that his efforts were inspired by vanity (“I wanted to be able to strut across the beach, turning heads”), but they also represented a rebellion against the perceived idea that bodily decline is not only natural, but inevitable. He developed a specially tailored diet of protein shakes, and took up judo to improve his stability and reduce his chances of a fall. The cumulative effect not only improved his biceps, but, he alleged, caused several grey hairs to turn brown and – to his “complete surprise” – restored his libido.

In 2012 he delivered a lecture in Zurich on the rise of obesity and the benefits of vigorous exercise in later life. “Retirement is not the end,” he told his audience. “It can be a new beginning, a chance to build a new body.”

A small and sickly child, Charles Marin Eugster was born in London on July 26 1919. His health improved dramatically when he had his tonsils removed aged 13, and he determined to make the most of his newfound energy, taking up boxing, rowing and rugby at St Paul’s School.

Charles was keen to study medicine but his teachers considered it too academically rigorous for him. He therefore chose dentistry as an easier discipline – “after all”, he reasoned later, “there are only so many teeth” – and amassed four degrees from four different universities before settling in Zurich to run a dental practice.

As his life became increasingly sedentary, he was unhappy to note the encroaching signs of old age, such as varicose veins. The tipping point came after the death of his second wife in a car accident while they were on holiday in France. Eugster turned to exercise as a way of coping with his grief. By 2015, he had won 36 gold medals at World Masters Rowing Regattas (the event’s Group K category, in which Eugster competed, is open to those aged 85 and over).

In addition to his gym regime, Eugster credited his good health to fresh air, plenty of fruit and avoiding sugar and alcohol. “Naturally if I’m with a beautiful lady, I would have a glass of champagne or two”, he confessed. “But I try to abstain.”

He married, in 1954, Edda Bianca. They had two children. The marriage was dissolved. His second wife, Elsie, predeceased him in 2001.

Charles Eugster, born July 26 1919, died April 27 2017

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