Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Colin Lowther and I'm Liz Wade. Spotlight uses
a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
matter where in the world they live. Wang Deshon walks proudly down a long
runway as people watch. He is a model on a catwalk stage at a
fashion show. Wang has a strong body and is full of confidence. But
he's not like the other young fashion models. He is seventy nine years old.
Many people may think that older people at the end of the lives cannot
do much more. However, Wang Deshan is only one of many people who
are achieving great things later in their lives. In fact, many people do
not even start finding success until they are in their fifties, seventies, eighties,
and even beyond. Today's Spotlight is on amazing older people showing how to
be happy, healthy and successful in life. We start with more about Wang
Deishan. My name is Wang Deshan, born and raised in Shenyang, China.
Many people started noticing me after a catwalk fashion show. Some people call
me hottest Grandpa. Some also said that I am an immediate Internet sensation.
But you know what to prepare for this day. I have been getting ready
for sixty years. Wang Deshon shared this in a video from Red Start Media.
He says that he did not feel successful when he was young or even
middle aged. In his twenties, he was a theater, actor and artist.
He continued performing and worked in fashion, but at age forty nine,
he was very poor. At the age of fifty, he started exercising at
the gym. When he was fifty seven, Wang started performing again. It
was not until he was seventy nine that people heard about Wang. He shared
his own dreams and encouragement for others. I am eighty this year, and
I still have some life in me. I still have some dreams to achieve.
Believe me, there is a lot you can do even when you think
it is too late. Be careful. You do not let age become your
excuse for giving up. No one can keep you from success except yourself.
When it is time to shine, be the brightest. My name is Ernestine
Shepherd. I am seventy seven years of age and I am a bodybuilder.
I do the same thing day in and day out. I eat the same
thing day in and day out. I do it because I cannot tell anyone
to do anything if I am not doing it. The world's oldest female bodybuilder
is Ernestine Shepherd. She started lifting weights when she was fifty six years old.
She began exercising with her sister, then suddenly her sister died. After
this, Shepherd stopped lifting weights. She did not want to do anything.
Then she thought her sister would want her to continue. Shepherd began to exercise
again. Now, at age eighty, she is still a bodybuilder. The
Guinness Book of World Records recognizes Shepherd, but she is more than a bodybuilder.
She also teaches exercise classes in her city of Baltimore in the United States.
She teaches people in her community how to be healthy at any age.
Shepherd told Prevention Magazine the advice she gives to her classes not everybody wants to
be a bodybuilder, not everybody wants to be a runner. But find what
you like to do. I say to my older ladies and the men do
not forget. Age is nothing but a number. Younger people often feel a
lot of pressure to be successful. They may already feel discouraged in their twenties.
They feel they should achieve more. It can give young people hope to
see older people have success later in life. These examples show that it is
never too late. Older people have found success and joy in art, science,
exercise, and business. In twenty sixteen, collect Bully of France finished
her PhD degree, the highest level of schooling. She worked on this degree
for thirty years, but she did not give up her goal. Boulie was
ninety one years old when the University de franche Comte awarded her PhD. As
people age, their bodies and minds are not as strong, but it is
possible to stay strong both mentally and physically. Many people reach goals in sports
and physical fitness when they are older. Hide Kichi Miyazaki of Japan started racing
at age ninety. He still runs the one hundred meter race. He is
now one hundred and five years old. Mieko Nagaoka is also from Japan.
She is the world's first one hundred year old to swim the one thousand,
five hundred meter race. Johanna Quas is a grandmother from Germany. She is
also the oldest gymnast in the world. Many older people who practice sports begin
them later in life, but Quas started gymnastics when she was very young.
Gymnasts are usually teenagers. They must be very strong, their bodies must bend
easily. Quas is now ninety two years old. She can still lift her
whole body up with her arms. She told The Straits Times. My face
is old, but my heart is young. If you are fit, it
is easier to be in control of life. Maybe the day I stop doing
gymnastics is the day I die. Do all these people have something in common?
Well, they eat different diets, they enjoy doing different things. But
all the people in this program do have some things in common. They take
care of themselves. They do what they enjoy doing. They are not afraid
to try new things, and they do not give up. As actor and
model Wang Deshun told The New York Times, one way to know if you
are old or not is to ask yourself, do you dare try something you
have never done before? Nature decides age, but you decide your state of
mind. What is something you want to do when you are older? Are
you doing it? Now? Tell us what you think. You can leave
a comment on our website or email us at radio at Radio English dot net.
You can also comment on our Facebook page at Facebook dot com slash Spotlight
Radio The writer of this program was Rena Dam The producer was Michio Ozaki.
The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. All
quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to
this program again and read it on the internet at www dot Radio English dot
net. This program is called Age is just number. Look out for our
listening app in the Google play Store and in iTunes. We hope you can
join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye,