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At 51, Establishing a New Body of Work

The New York Times, 9/21/07

Abstract:

Eve Birath strolled along the boardwalk, past shops and stands selling pungent varieties of junk food that she would never allow herself to eat. Birath is a 5-foot-11 Swedish woman with blond hair, blue eyes and chiseled muscles...

...Four and a half years ago, at 47, she was a harried marketing executive who had been through two divorces. She made 45,000 krona (about $6,700) a month, often flew to Stockholm on business trips, chatted constantly on her cell phone and lived with her two children in a large house in Goteborg...

...And then, in December 2002, she was laid off.

Birath sold her house and moved into an apartment. She sold her car. She had no idea what to do next. She began going to a nearby gym, where one of the regulars told her she had a good physique for bodybuilding. She found out about a tournament to be held the following December and she signed up...

..."It was very unusual for someone to begin bodybuilding at my age, but I thought my age was one bit of the challenge," said Birath, who is now 51. "I think all people have preconceptions, like that bodybuilders are all stupid. I think I probably thought bodybuilders were a bit stupid, too."

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