IT'S BARELY 8AM ON A spring morning in Sydney's inner south-west. Already the indoor ice rink is alive with lithe figures swooping and twirling in the cool internal air. These world-class figure skating hopefuls have been here for hours, practising their gravity-defying leaps, forcing themselves to their feet after each brutal tumble. At age 74, with a bald head and white beard, Richard Lynch seems out of place — until he gets on the ice. His coach watches from the sidelines as Richard glides, spinsand jumps to the passionate strains of Khachaturian's Spartacus. At one point he stumbles and falls onto the glistening white ice...and my heart stops. A fall in a typical 74-year-old could mean a hip fracture, hospitalisation,joint replacement or immobility. In some 74-year-olds, even a knock against a piece of furniture would be enough.Rdchard sits on the ice for a moment, and then pushes himself to his feet and skates on. "I've done enough of that in my day," he says later. "I've had injuries and surgery, and so on, and back problems from falling." Does it worry him? "No, it doesn't.I really don't think about it actually," he says.
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