He's back and he's a world champion. QUT's 87-year-old bodybuilding palaeobotanist, John Rigby, has returned from Slovakia with the over-80s world title from the 2014 World Championships in Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness.
Organisers introduced an over-80s category to cater for Mr Rigby, given the rarity of octogenarian competitors. The move meant he didn't have to compete with the much younger over-60s.
"I was the only one in the over-80s though, so there wasn't much competition," he said.
His four-minute choreographed bodybuilding routine was the highlight of his 30,000km round trip, which also included a visit to Prague to give a talk at a local university museum.
"It was a very good experience - it was quite full-on," he said. "I'm still getting over the trip back."
"There were 16 Australians competing but most of the comradery I had was with people from other teams, particularly a Dutch couple who were competiting in a much younger age category.
"There were 250 competitors and I worked out I was more than 10 times the age of the youngest - they had a children's section!"
The athletic Mr Rigby has also represented Australia at World Masters Games (running events), state and national bodybuilding titles, and competed in fun runs such as the QUT Classic.
He qualified for the Slovakian world titles after winning his age category in the Australian natural bodybuilding titles in Melbourne last year.
Mr Rigby conducts scientific research at QUT five days a week on a voluntary basis and also trains every day at a city gym.
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Media contact: Mechelle McMahon, QUT media office, media@qut.edu.au
