Happiness has no age in Russia

Andrei Chirkov did not even notice how running robbed him of old age. He became a runner by accident: drunk one evening, the then 52-year-old agreed to run a marathon. That was 20 years ago. Every day he does a half-marathon (20 km), and celebrated his 70th birthday by running the same number of kilometers as his accumulated years. After that, he set a new personal record by completing a super-marathon (490 km!) in seven days. As if that wasn't enough, Andrei ran a marathon at the North Pole, the oldest of eleven participants.

Valentin Badich is nicknamed the "Grandpa of Elvis Presley." Aged 75, he dances to boogie-woogie, rockabilly, rock 'n' roll, twist 'n' shake, disco, and much else besides. When he was past 40, he developed pains in his joints. Soon Valentin could not walk without crutches. Refusing surgery, he decided to treat himself by gritting his teeth. He began to walk, forcing himself up and down the stairs, and began to run and dance. In two years, he was cured. Now Valentin dances twice a week all year round.

Thanks to continuous training, 75-year-old cross-country skier Boris Ulatov covers 10 km in half an hour! For comparison, that is a mere 9 minutes slower than 26-year-old world and two-time Olympic champion Petter Northug. Aged 75, Boris works as a cemetery guard. The job suits him well, because it gives time to prepare for international competitions.

Pathoanatomist Nina Antonova is 85 years old. More than half a century of close contact with death gives her the right to assert that people often die of malice. Nina believes that people should treat others well: it prolongs life. She stresses that such conclusion is most likely common to all mankind, but 50 years of professional medical experience have served to crystallize her opinion.

97-year-old Alexander Rosenthal goes skiing. Three times a week, winter and summer, you can find him on the artificial slope outside Moscow. Seeing him hurtle down the slope, looping from one side to the other, no one would distinguish him from a teenager. Alexander has been skiing since childhood. The first 100 meters of the slope provide the greatest pleasure: the gradient takes his breath away.

Yegor Mishustin, 83, effortlessly raises an 8-kg dumbbell in one hand: 60 times in two minutes. Yegor began exercising as a young man. Despite doctor’s orders to give up the sport due to congenital heart disease, Yegor has no intention of quitting. At 50, he won regional bicycle races, and at 72 a weight-lifting tournament. "Progress immobilizes people, yet movement is life," believes Yegor.

Igor Goldman took up sport at the age of 65. Now 78, he sets world records in the bench press, and in his spare time heads a biotechnology center. He is working on extracting lactoferrin, a key protein in the human immune system. When Igor was 65, he went on a long business trip and started going to the gym. After returning to Russia, Igor set a world record in the bench press in his very first competition. He was 70 years old. Since then, he has never lost a championship and has set a few more world records.

64-year-old mountaineer Ivan Dusharin decided to conquer all the world's highest peaks in the space of one year. In the past six months, Ivan has already conquered Kilimanjaro, Everest, and Aconcagua. The idea is to ascend to the highest point of each of the seven continents. When Ivan was 50, he climbed to the top of India's Changabeng via a route that had never before been taken. The ascent up the vertical face lasted 16 days: nights were spent "with two others" on a tiny piece of stretched tarpaulin hanging in suspension.

A 4 km swim, a 180 km bike-ride, and a 42 km run, consecutively without stopping: known as the Ironman, it is one of the most difficult all-round events there is. But for pensioner Lyudmila Voronova, 61, it is a stroll in the park. Lyudmila won the Ironman in Korea and Austria, and in 2012 added Sweden to the list. After that, she was invited to the World Championship in Hawaii. There, 61-year-old Lyudmila completed the distance in 14 hours and 25 minutes. That means that she swam, cycled, and ran for 14 hours non-stop.

Antonina Kulikova started practicing aikido through a gardening course. Novosibirsk Leisure Center organized aikido courses for horticulturists. The first lesson sifted the number of participants down to 15. They became the "aikido grannies." Today, the youngest of them is 55 and the oldest a spritely 75. After every class, 72-year-old Antonina takes care to remember the instructions of the sensei. Outside the dojo, she studies English: a good athlete needs a well-trained brain.

When Yevgenia Stepanova turned 60, she decided to become a professional athlete. Having chosen high-board diving as her sport, she began active training. Now 74, Yevgenia and her sporting career are in full bloom. "I'm about to move up an age group: over 75," she explains. "My main rival, who is Austrian, is three years younger than me. So for at least three years, I will be the strongest in the group and can win many medals!"