Fuelled By Vegetables - Top Vegan Athletes
It’s clearly a myth that you cant perform at a high standard and be vegan. Take a look at just some of these top vegan athletes and realise that you can be cruelty free and get the protein you need from a plant based diet.
Carl Lewis had an outstanding career which included winning 9 gold and one silver Olympic medals in 100 and 200 meters sprints, as well as long jumps and 4 x 100m relays. He was voted World Athlete of the Decade in the 1980s and even won Olympic Athlete of the Century award. He went vegan in 1990 and was quoted saying ”I’ve found that a person does not need protein from meat to be a successful athlete. In fact, my best year of track competition was the first year I ate a vegan diet. Moreover, by continuing to eat a vegan diet, my weight is under control, I like the way I look”
Fiona Oakes is a famous marathon runner. In the last 11 years she was 1st on many marathons around the world. She didn’t tell when she became vegan but she sure is very helpful at raising awareness of people around the globe. Not only is it stress-relieving, it’s also one of the ways Fiona manages to pay the massive bills to keep the Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary at Asheldham, Essex, going — she runs marathons to raise funds.
Brendan Brazier is a Canadian endurance athlete, author, advocate of a vegan diet, and creator of the Vega line of food products and supplements. He was twice Canadian 50k champion in 2003 and 2004. He managed to Swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles and run 26.2 miles. Call it an honest day’s work for Brendan Brazier, professional Ironman triathlete. Considered one of the world’s most demanding sports, the Ironman presents a stern test of body, mind and spirit for professional and amateur athletes alike. In fact, for many Ironman contestants, just crossing the finish line means victory.
Venus Williams is one of the most famous female tennis players in the world and is also an advocate for a vegan diet. She has been diagnosed in 2011 with Sjogren’s syndrome, an auto-immune disease and she switched to be Vegetarian first. After some time she transitioned to become a full vegan. She prefers raw food and she claims her diet has not only not affected her athletic ability, but has in fact improved her health immensely and she credits her diet change with helping manage Sjogren’s symptoms – and her impressive comeback after her diagnosis certainly confirms this. Williams says raw, organic foods are the key to maintaining her body at its optimum health, although she acknowledges the reality of how many calories athletes need, and admits that she eats pasta, bread, and rice before matches due to the often low caloric value of raw vegan foods.
For some it is hard to believe that bodybuilders can be vegans but Korin Sutton is living example of it. He started being vegan in 2011 after hearing speech at Broward Colege. He told
” I always had a misconception on how animals were being treated and raised for human consumption. I also had a big misconception on animal nutrition. From that day on I decided to become vegan. It wasn’t easy at first, I stopped eating all land animal products and for 2 years I was 80% Vegan and 20% Pescatarian. Now I’ve been Vegan for a year and it feels great to not be involve with any type of animal killing or cruelty and being on a plant base diet.”
Jack Linquvist is a professional track-racing cyclist who won his first race in 2007 when the 26 year old cycle messenger won the 2007 Puma Velocity race in New York City. Jack has been vegan since 2005 and has said he “feels much better, faster and full of energy”. He also stated that when other cyclists, found out that he no longer eats meat they are usually a little shocked because he does not ‘look vegan’; But he is not skinny and lethargic, he is muscular and well proportioned.
Georges Laraque is a NHL professional hockey player that was awarded the “Best Fighter” award by The Hockey News in 2003. In 2008, Sports Illustrated named him the number one enforcer. He became vegan in 2009 after seeing movie EARTHLINGS, which shows in details the cruelty animals go through to end up on your plate. He encourages people to be vegans because from his point of view many people think that you can’t get enough protein if you are a vegan, but Georges say (and it is proven) that you can get enough protein with a vegan diet and you will get healthier and consume better proteins from nuts and seeds than from animals.
