A pensioner who had a hip replacement three years ago is celebrating winning a gold medal in his first national powerlifting competition.
David Wallis, 81, says he is “hooked” after competing in the British Masters Classic Powerlifting competition on June 6 for the first time.
Proving age is just a number, the retired database consultant from Hildenborough took home the gold despite being the oldest in his weight category.
Although it was his second competition ever, the first being in November last year, he became British champion in the under 93kg 70+ category known as Master 4 (M4).
He said: “It took some canny Body Mentors encouragement to convince me at 81 I should enter a powerlifting competition.
“Having three generations of support from my family, there was no hesitation to join fellow competitors at the masters in Edinburgh and I thoroughly enjoyed the day’’.
Reacting to his win, David said: “I am delighted, and it was such a pleasure sharing it with everyone who came with me to enjoy the day. I’m now hooked.”
The co-founder of Body Mentors, which is a team of personal trainers, William Gorringe, said: “Seeing David up on the podium collecting his gold medal was truly inspiring.
“When he started training with us over five years ago, this was something we never envisioned.”
For now, David is showing no signs of slowing down, as he sets his sights on defending his title in 2027.
Body Mentors also saw two other clients compete in the 2026 British Masters Classic Powerlifting competition, with Pauline French achieving bronze in the Master 2, 63kg category, and Brent Gebbie securing silver in the M4 83kg category.