AN 80-year-old woman has defied expectations to become the world’s oldest bodybuilder and claims her toyboy loves her buff look.
Janice Lorraine, from Australia, didn’t even start lifting weights until she was 56 but is now an ambassador for older women wanting to stay strong and keep in shape.
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Janice has been competing for over 24 years and has won 13 World Titles as an amateur natural bodybuilder, with her latest triumph coming as recently as November 2022.
There have also been successes at the IFBB National Championships in Sydney, where she won Bronze Medals in Masters 35+ category in both the NSW and Australian competitions.
Despite not competing for a number of years, Janice still trains and keeps in shape, although this attracts a lot of unwanted judgement.
But so does her marriage to husband David, who is 23 years her junior.
“The reactions to my new way of life have been mixed, Janice told SBS. “Some people judge me but my partner David has been nothing but supportive.
“He’s 23 years younger than me, we’ve been married for 33 years and I’ve never been happier. But there are those close to me who still take exception to our union.
“In my view, those who wish to judge how others live are the unfortunate ones. They miss out on the exploration of the possible.
“I’m not bothered by these people. On the contrary, I feel sad for those who judge yet do so little.”
When Janice first picked up bodybuilding, she was 56, retired and “just did aerobics classes”.
But her life-changing decision was made one day in 1999 after seeing a frail old woman struggling to get out of her car.
“I remember saying to myself ‘I am not going to be like her, I am not!”, she said.
After joining the gym and entering the weight room, Janice remembered that many men weren’t too happy to be sharing their domain with a woman.
But one man picked up on Janice’s intent to learn and offered to teach her.
Within 12 months, she signed up for her first bodybuilding competition in Sydney.
“Surprisingly, I won!” she said.
Over the next 24 years, Janice competed all across the world from Las Vegas to Hawaii and Greece to Dubai.
That includes winning the world titles in Prague in November 2022, making her the first woman in the world to compete internationally in natural bodybuilding at the age of 80.
“Many young athletes were pictured with me in Prague, all saying, ‘You’re our inspiration'”, she said. “I love that my efforts are genuinely motivating athletes of many age groups and countries.
“I feel extremely happy to have helped both younger and older women to stay strong and fully embrace life with confidence.”
While Janice believes she hasn’t changed as a person since taking up bodybuilding, she does at least feel more confident in herself.
She also wanted to change the stereotypes around women and the degrading names given to them in years gone by.
“I wanted to show older women that they can be strong and in shape at an older age and be confident to wear lovely clothes.
“The most rewarding thing for me is to see older women, particularly those over 50, feeling excited about themselves and about life.”
Elsewhere, the world’s strongest brothers who began weightlifting as soon as they could walk are now unrecognisable as teenagers.
Giuliano and his four-year-old brother Claudiu Stroe made waves across the internet in 2010 when eye-popping images of them flexing their muscles emerged.
And a bodybuilder with an uncanny resemblance to Kendall Jenner has revealed the horrible side effects she had suffered from steroids.
Vladislava Galagan, 28, has shared how she used steroids as a short-cut to the dream body.
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