Who are the top vegan athletes in the world today?
Since 1944, after the two vegetarian friends went on a vegan diet, other athletes began to imitate them to date. While some athletes claim that abstaining from animals’ consumption makes them fit, others consume it and claim otherwise.
Whatever opinion anybody holds, the truth is that veganism is normal and has become some people’s lifestyle. Veganism is the practice of abstaining from consuming neither meat nor other animal products, such as fish, milk, milk products, including eggs and honey.
As evidenced in the athletes we have on our list, vegan athletes are exceptionally fit, despite the absence of animal products. They participate actively in sports with great skill and full energy, just like non-vegans.
There are lots of athletes that prove to us that we don’t need any meat or animal products to compete in basketball, football, tennis, race, and other sports activities just to become a champion. Check out this list of skillful athletes that are vegans, yet, physically fit and healthy.
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Table of Contents
These great vegan athletes would choose plant-based diets any day
10. Joe Gambles
Sport: Marathon
Joe Gambles, popularly called “Tofu Joe, is an Ironman athlete. Joe claims that he has been a vegan since birth and has never tasted meat nor fish.
According to him, “I couldn’t get my head around why you would eat an animal. I can’t see the difference between a cow and my dog. I can’t see why you would eat one and call the other your best friend. I just have a lot of respect for animals.” (He said to the world).
Joe Gambles is a pure vegetarian; he never fails to show his likeness to those who live by it and still hope everyone would turn to vegan one day.
9. Venus Williams
Sport: Tennis
Venus is a famous American tennis player. She is a well-decorated tennis player, with 7 Grand Slam singles title and 14 slam women’s double title.
Venus became a vegan athlete in 2011 after she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Sjogren’s syndrome. This disease caused her extreme fatigue and joint pain that she left the sport for some time. On switching to the vegan lifestyle, she revealed that there had been a tremendous improvement in her athletic ability.
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8. Lewis Hamitone
Sport: Formula One
Lewis Hamilton is a popular motorsports driver who drives for Mercedes. He’s known as the world’s 10th most paid athlete. Hamilton decided to become a vegan in 2017. According to the athlete, he prefers his current lifestyle to the old one.
He believes that veganism requires a high level of discipline, especially for those who were not introduced to the lifestyle as kids. He has competed in many races and continues to win till today. Presently, he is recognized as a 6-time world champion with 88 individual race victories.
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7. Tia Blanco
Sport: Surfing
Tia Blanco is a member of the American surfing team and has won several surfing tournaments. She has been a vegan from birth, and by mere looking at her, you’d notice that she is full of energy and strength.
Tia shares health tips on her YouTube channel almost daily. In one of her posts, she claimed that she starts her day with refreshing lemon water and a vegan smoothie made with in-season fruits, leafy greens, and sources of healthy fats like hemp seeds. Wow! What a way to start your day.
This veteran has won many gold medals in the past, and she remains the world recognized champion in surfing.
6. Alex Morgan
Sport: Football
Alex Morgan is a pure vegetarian. She was part of the US 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Squad. She’s known for her strength and energy in football. She started playing for the California Golden Bears while at University before being drafted as the overall number one in 2011, which took her to Western New York Flash.
According to Morgan, she never thought it was possible she could be playing at an elite level as a professional athlete with a plant-based diet.
Alex Morgan has mentioned that her vegan diet makes her stronger and enhances her performance in her game.
5. Tony Gonzalez
Sport: Football
Tony Gonzalez is one of the most popular vegan football athletes in the NFL. He took part in 17 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Tony is a current analyst on Fox NFL’s pregame show.
Tony Gonzalez discovered how important it is to abstain from meat and other animal products to his game and health, and diverted to a vegan diet. He always urges people to join the vegan club and enjoy a healthier life.
4. Scott Jurek
Sport: Marathon
Scott Jurek is a popular athlete around the globe. He is a marathon and long-distance sprinter who broke the record for running 165.7 miles over 24 hours. Scott has 17 prestigious ultramarathon titles to his name. He realized the value of being a vegetarian and adopted the vegan diet during his college years. He has led the sport with multiple wins
3. Fiona Oakes
Sport: Marathon
Fiona Oakes is known for her race. She ran marathons on all the seven continents and at the North Pole. She has broken many records as being the most energetic and one of the fastest runners across continents. This exquisite woman holds medals for her wins. She took the step and switched to a vegan diet.
Our findings revealed that Fiona adopted a vegan diet before the age of six. It is recorded that at three-years-old, she declared herself a vegetarian, and at six, she abstained totally from all animal products to date.
2. Brendan Brazier
Sport: Triathlon
Brendan Brazier is a professional ironman triathlete. He is known for his demonstration of strength in tournaments, and his book titled “Thrive The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life”. He accepted the vegan diet and adopted it fully from an early age. He now encourages and advises other professional athletes to switch to veganism.
1. Patrick Baboumian
Sport: Weight lifting
Patrick Baboumian is popularly known as the “strongest Man” in Germany. In 1999, he bagged the title for the German junior bodybuilder at 20 years. He has lifted heavy logs of about 200kg. He is 5’7ft tall and weighs about 256 pounds.
Patrick Baboumian became a popular influencer of veganism at an early age. He suggested many ways to live a healthy vegan lifestyle. Despite his vegan diet, he broke the world record for the 1st macho man to have carried logging of 1,216 pounds across 10metres in 2013. He is recognized as one of the strongest men in Germany for his strength and hard work.
Conclusion
You see, vegans are healthy after all!
Vegan athletes strongly believe that eating vegetables and other food (other than animal products) is much healthier. It reduces the chances of obesity, heart-related diseases, and to a reasonable extent, high blood pressure.
We would like to know what you like or dislike about vegans in the comment section below.
