West Sussex great-grandfather, 85, wins at bodybuilding competition after being inspired by documentary

Ernie Yule, from Eastergate, began his training after being inspired by a documentary which followed a group of 70-year-olds preparing to take part in a bodybuilding competition.

Despite being 78 with no experience, and being ‘in no way similar in shape’ to the documentary’s competitors, he was determined to give it a go. The great-grandfather joined VK Gym in Bognor and trained for two years before entering his first competition but, sadly, he left empty-handed.

He said: “After two years of training I foolishly thought I was ready to compete, largely encouraged by people I had met at the gym.

“At the contest I soon realised I was nowhere near ready and, to prove the point, at the award ceremony I was on the stage with a group of 70-year-olds who received awards, leaving me as the only one to leave the stage empty handed.

“Although it hurt, it fired me up to train harder.”

After five more years of training three times a week, Ernie decided to try again, so made the trip to Leatherhead for this year’s annual contest on July 30.

However, there wasn’t a competition class for people over the age of 80 so, once again, he competed alongside a group of 70-year-olds.

This time, Ernie took home a trophy – despite being the oldest member on-stage.

He said: “It was an extremely long and exhausting day and, without the help of my lovely wife, Mary, it may have ended differently.

“But I was successful and it was probably the most rewarding experience of my life.”