Gym king still going strong at 80

CAIRO — While most men of Sobhi Mohammed’s age are relaxing in their twilight years, this 80-year-old prefers lifting weights, and putting his much younger gym mates to shame in the process.

“People keep asking me when I am going to retire ... I simply answer never,” said Mohammed, who has been bodybuilding for 60 years, at al-Shams Club in Cairo, where he has been working out for the past four decades.

Mohammed, who was director general of the property tax authority in Egypt’s Giza province, believes in the adage that “age is just a number” and it is no barrier to ambitions if people still have a strong will to achieve them.

“I haven’t never stopped exercising in more than 60 years ... I may have been training less now, but I am still exercising,” he said during a short break.

Mohammed does look much younger than his real age.

“That’s simply because workout keeps me fresh and healthy,” he said.

Mohammed’s love for sports started when he joined his school gymnastics and athletic clubs, winning third place in Cairo’s Gymnastics Championship.

In university, he started to pay more attention to bodybuilding, not only for a better shape but also better health.

“For me, sport is a lifestyle, I am addicted to sport,” Mohammed said before he started a tough weightlifting exercise.

His strong, muscular body helped him appear in the movie Son of Spartacus, also known as The Slave, in 1962.

Mohammed played a minor role of a muscleman in the movie, which was filmed in Egypt and tells the story of an ancient Roman soldier who was sent to Egypt by Julius Caesar to monitor one of his commanders.

For young bodybuilders at al-Shams Club, Mohammed is a godfather and an example to be followed.

Mohammed Gabr, 40, an employee at an aviation company, said: “We watch him work out in shock, he really crushes us. We wish we could just be like him when we are at his age.”