10 Vegan Athletes Making Strides for Veganism

supportblog, Food, Health 18 Comments

From weightlifting to basketball and long-distance running, more and more athletes are proving that a vegan diet fuels success. Here is a list of ten vegan athletes who’ve made significant strides on and off the playing field.   

1. Scott Jurek

First on the list is Scott Jurek. Scott is an ultrarunner and credits his vegan diet for his endurance, recovery, and incredible twenty-year racing career. He is a New York Times best-selling author and through writing, public speaking and consulting helps people of all fitness levels take the next step towards vibrant health. 

2. Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is a world champion race car driver who has also founded his own chain of vegan fast-food restaurants called Neat Burger. Neat Burger will soon be opening its first location in the United States. Hamilton uses his social media presence to encourage his fans to go vegan and he has invested in the vegan tech company NotCo

3. Patrik Boboumian

Patrik Baboumian is one of the world’s strongest men and was featured in the movie The Game Changers for his elite strength. He has recently been working on the release of an animal rights-themed comic book called Earthraiser: Voice of the Voiceless.               

4. Venus Williams

Tennis player Venus Williams went vegan in 2011 after being diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome.  Venus credits a plant-based diet for helping her maintain energy and reduce inflammation. She launched her own plant-based protein brand called Happy Viking to give other people the opportunity to be healthy, and feel good

5. Tia Blano

Tia Blanco is a professional surfer who won gold at the International Surfing Association Open in 2015. She’s an ambassador of Beyond Meat and shares vegan recipes on her Instagram page @tiasvegankitchen

6. Chris Paul

Chris Paul is a professional basketball player who switched to a vegan diet in 2019. Chris credits veganism for his return to the NBA All-star game for the first time in four seasons. He’s a co-creator of the Social Change Fund, a non-profit that has partnered with Beyond Meat, which aims to fight disparities in the Black community. 

7. Steph Davis

Steph Davis is an American rock climber who also shares vegan recipes on her website. Steph chose to go vegan because it helped make her feel better and perform better. She is also a writer and speaker and her talks cover a variety of themes including plant-based power, change and transformation, and risk and resilience. 

8. Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan is a soccer star and team member of the USA National Team. She became a vegan for ethical reasons and found it beneficial for reduced fatigue and faster recovery. Her main reason for going vegan is that “it didn’t feel fair to have a dog I adore, and yet eat meat all the time.”

9. Elijah Hall

Elijah Hall is an American sprinter who holds the record for the indoor 200-meter event. He went vegan after reading about other athletes who made the switch and have extended their careers and says a vegan diet has “provided him with more energy, better sleep, and an overall feeling of being lighter on his feet.” 

10. Dotsie Bausch

Dotsie Bausch is a pro cyclist and was featured in The Game Changers documentary. She is the founder of Switch4Good, an organization that raises awareness of the impact of the dairy industry on human health, the environment, and animal wellbeing. 

Whether for increased energy, reduced inflammation, or ethical reasons more athletes are adopting a vegan diet than ever before. These sporting stars are contributing their peak performances to veganism. These incredible athletes are also writers, speakers, bloggers, activists, and creators. Athletes from every sport continue to use their voices to help their fellow athletes improve performance and reduce the abuse of animals in factory farming. 

Comments 18

  1. Sorry, but I do not believe these athletes could perform at the levels described without occasionally imbibing in animal products.

    Have any of your subjects ever offered to take a polygraph exam administered by a third party to confirm their claim of being a pure vegan?

    1. For what reason would they be pretending then? A lot of people laugh at Vegetarians and Vegans and don’t believe it is a sensible diet so why put yourself in opposition if it’s not true. It is still incredible how much stick people give you.

    2. I think you’re incredulous that being vegan can sustain these high performance athletes. These are just a few of the more famous ones that are demonstrating that this is indeed possible. Finding one who might be exaggerating won’t prove your case. There is a lot of research also which hopefully would change your perspective. Animal products really aren’t healthy in our diets.

    3. What scientific proof do you have to support the idea that professional athletes have to ingest body parts and secretions to perform?

    4. You really are Doodah.
      If you actually looked into it properly you would understand how meat may contain protein and some vitamins but it takes much longer to digest. Why do you think it has been found to increase you chances of developing cancer.
      As a veggie from age 16 so for 60years and vegan for 4. I am often asked where I get my energy from. Although l didn’t do it for that reason, l did it from a cruelty aspect.
      I had always been involved with animals and decided I was not going to eat what I saw as my friend.

    5. Wow, are you a nutritionist? What are you qualifications for making this statement?

      Why a polygraph? Very few, if any of these folks are “pure vegan”. That is to say, they do not live by the philosophy of doing the least harm. They eat plant based, which is good.

    6. Yes, it can be hard to believe, since most of us grew up being told we needed meat to be strong, but as Patrik Boboumian (athlete #3 above) replied when asked, “How can you be strong as an ox without eating meat?”: “Have you ever seen an ox eating meat?” You could watch the “Gamechangers” on Netflix if you’re still skeptical.

    7. Maybe you need to challenge your beliefs, you have been fooled by conditioning and other factors to subscribe to outdated views. The industrial meat complex really has done a good job in marketing death.

    8. We live in the era of technology, where things like this can be expose very easily if they are not true. So your incredulity regarding these people is totally unjustified.

    9. Probably the most disingenuous and ridiculous comments I’ve ever read on the internet, well done for achieving the rank of Dumbest Arse 2022 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
      Try reading some of the peer-reviewed papers first, you’ll embarrass yourself much less 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

    10. I suggest you watch Game Changers. Beyond that, you might look into the various vegan athletic groups around the country that compete in cycling, endurance running (like the Ragnorak races and Spartan events), etc. That way you can learn firsthand how their lives and performances have changed.

    11. Why do you ask such a question? Of course it is possible to be very healthy and not eat animal products. And why do some meat eaters have this obsession with vegans sneaking animal products on the down low? Why would a person do that when they know how much better and healthier they feel abstaining from animal products? Maybe you could reflect on your own indoctrination my the meat and dairy lobbyists who control D.C. and the ways in which we think about animals. Don’t let Big Agriculture control your mind. Open your mind and don’t be afraid to try something different.

  2. Wow! Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. Please forgive me for not responding to each of you individually. I may be wrong, but I don’t think I read a response from anyone who agreed with me.

    I came to my belief through personal experience. I am much stronger, healthier and happier since I began a carnivore diet five years ago. I won’t go into my entire regimen, but basically I eat as much as I want in a six hour window and fast the rest of the day. It doesn’t feel like fasting really because I don’t get hungry during those 18 fasting hours. I take no vitamins nor any prescribed medications.

    I still believe it is appropriate to ask professional athletes who claim to be vegan to submit to a polygraph. I know the difference meat has made in my life and how vegetables let me down. Sorry, but I don’t believe them.

  3. Pingback: Top 18 athletes who are vegan

  4. I’m sorry, I don’t believe you are performing at a higher level on a carnivorous diet! In my personal experience, I am stronger, healthier, and happier on a vegan diet. I think meat-eaters should take a polygraph test to prove that they don’t occasionally imbibe in plant products.

  5. Incidentally, polygraph tests are not scientifically valid, so they wouldn’t prove anything either way. Why not go to the scientific literature instead?

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