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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Paula Cocozza

A new start after 60: ‘I’m one of the world’s worst athletes – but I learned to skate in my 70s’

‘I’m just an old guy going around in circles’ … Richard Epstein at the indoor rink in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
‘I’m just an old guy going around in circles’ … Richard Epstein at the indoor rink in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Photograph: Gabriela Campos/The Guardian

The first time Richard Epstein went to his local ice-skating rink in Santa Fe, New Mexico, he was handed a free pair of skates. They had been left behind by a discontented customer. “I do things out of my comfort zone, and good things happen,” he observes.

This wisdom was borne out last December, when Epstein, now 78, skated in his first exhibition. His wife filmed his routine, which he performed with his coach, Teri Moellenberg, then his eldest daughter posted it on Twitter, along with a note that Epstein has stage four prostate cancer. Nearly 3 million people viewed it. Epstein is somewhat baffled by the response, describing himself as “just an old guy going around in circles”.

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