Eddie Fawcett and Bill Neumann have proved age is just a number after sawing their way to victory at the Masters Games in Whanganui this month.
The pair competed in the 70-Plus Double-hand Sawing Championship, beating three other pairs.
"The pair I was worried about were the older ones," Mr Fawcett said.
"I've watched them before and they were gutsy - I thought, they will be the ones to watch."
They entered the competition when Mr Fawcett jokingly asked Mr Neuman at his 70th birthday party in December.
"Eddie asked me and I thought 'why not, I'll do it for a bit of fun'," Mr Neuman said.
Although Mr Fawcett has competed in sawing and wood-chopping competitions for 40 years, it was Mr Neuman's first, and it took six weeks of training a couple of nights a week for them to take the gold.
"I'm really glad I participated," Mr Neuman said. "It was a really neat day and a great experience."
Sawing and wood chopping runs in Mr Fawcett's family. His father did it, and his son and grandson now compete, training at Mr Neuman's wood shed.
"Eddie's up at the shed training and we do things together, like he goes through the wood heaps to get some for chopping," Mr Neuman said. "It's neat that his son and grandson train up there too."
Mr Fawcett, who won five golds and one silver at the games, is not stopping there. He was competing in Upper Hutt at the weekend in a wood-chopping competition, where he was the oldest competitor.
"It's really a rhythm thing and it's about working together."
