Strutting her stuff in a gold-hemmed mini-skirt, white leather boots and shaking silver pom-poms, octogenarian Fumie Takino has discovered her elixir of youth – cheerleading. Takino and her troupe of spirited grannies tweak the nose of old age, even if their rambunctious routine to the song Dreamgirls leaves them painfully out of breath and their pink tank tops dripping with sweat. “You have to be 55 or older,” said Takino, referring to the qualification for joining her team, the average age of which is 70. But it was actually in Japan that she encountered cheerleading with its eye-popping array of moves, from human towers, somersaults and back flips. Takino immediately rounded up five friends to start her own troupe after first hearing about cheerleading.

Source: The Star September 16, 2016 23:51 UTC