Vegans Thriving. Elite Vegan Athletes
Naomi is a runner who has rapidly improved to become a nationally recognised force over 5k up to marathon distance.
Enjoying competition on a regular basis, she had a pre-COVID lockdown half marathon personal best of 1:15:19. this was from March 2020 and she’s since improved on it. Read More... “Naomi Mitchell, vegan runner”
Ana Stefulj is a vegan runner who has made a big impact on distance running at national level and internationally.
The Croatian took her first medal at the National Championship in 2019. She believed she could run 1:20 half marathon, which not everyone agreed with. Read More... “Ana Stefulj, vegan runner”
Juanjo Larrotcha is an ultra distance runner who continues to excel in the most demanding of races well into middle age.
The Spanish runner has taken an incredible 17 overall victories in trail and ultra-trail races. They include a win at the 2017 Nepalese Annapurna 100 km race, which includes over 5500 metres of height gain. Read More... “Juanjo Larrotcha, vegan ultramarathon runner”
Itir Atadiyen is an extremely successful mountain runner and sky runner in her home nation of Turkey.
She is known for running longer distance races of 10 km up to and beyond marathon. Most races have brutal height gains, routinely exceeding 1000 metres. Read More... “Itir Atadiyen, vegan sky runner”
Veronique Cormier has established herself as a leading powerlifter in her home nation of Canada.
She competes in the 57 kg category. At 18 she competed at the Eastern Canadian Championships and at 20 she hit the nationals (Junior class). She lifted a total of 312 kg there and went on to the Pan American Championships that year. Read More... “Veronique Cormier, vegan powerlifter”
Mirsad is one of a large and growing number of extreme distance athletes competing internationally on a vegan diet.
His talent for running has been evident since youth. In 1989 aged 15 he won a national championship in cross country running. Read More... “Mirsad Abdakovic, vegan long distance runner”
Anabelle is an American long distance runner born in Puerto Rico who has competed at all levels in Masters running over a range of distances.
Since 2000 Anabelle has taken wins and set course records at local racing. She is a member of Philadelphia Masters Track & Field, and races for the Mid Atlantic Association. Read More... “Anabelle Broadbent, vegan runner”
Unsal is a Turkish boxer who currently lives in Germany and fights at Super Welterweight. Since he gave up meat he has become the IBF European Champion, WBU World Champion and GBU World Champion. Later he turned vegan and since then has won the UBF European title twice, WBC Asia title and the BDB International German title. Read More... “Unsal Arik, vegan boxer”
Alina is a successful track athlete competing at national level in her home nation of Israeli, and internationally.
She was Israeli national champion for the 110 m hurdles three times (2017., 2018 and 2019) and she competes overseas. She is the 5th fastest nationally of all time in this event. Read More... “Alina Drozdov, vegan track athlete”
David has become a high profile athlete in track and field, competing internationally. He has competed over several distances with most success over 400 metres individually and in 4 x 400 metres relay. In the 2016 Rio Olympics he helped the US team to the Gold medal. Read More... “David Verburg, vegan track athlete”
Budjargal Byambaa is an ultradistance runner who runs extreme distance events over several days. In doing so he covers enormous distances at impressive speeds.
In 2013 Budjargal broke the 24 hour national record for his home nation of Mongolia after completing 182 km, and he has completed the 10-day Sri Chinmoy race five times. Read More... “Budjargal Byambaa – vegan ultradistance runner”
Hollie is an incredibly strong powerlifter who has achieved some amazing lifts. Competing in the ~48kg category, she has squatted 105kg and benched 60kg. Her deadlift is over three times her bodyweight at 155kg.
Unsurprisingly, Hollie feels that her deadlift is her greatest achievement. Read More... “Hollie Kempton, vegan powerlifter”
Making his mark on cricket in his home nation of Australia and abroad, Kane has become a hot property. He’s sought after in the exciting short forms of the game and has become a household name. The right-arm medium-fast bowler has represented his nation in 25 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 26 T20 matches (as of March 2021). Read More... “Kane Richardson, vegan cricketer”
Dawid Kawka is a Polish powerlifter who made his mark on the 2020 National Championships with some enormous lifts.
Competing at 74kg with the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF), Dawid squatted more than three times his bodyweight at the Championships to break the national Polish record with a 250 kg squat. Read More... “Dawid Kawka, vegan powerlifter”
Lewis Hamilton is established as the leading Formula One driver of his generation and one of the all-time greats. He’s taken numerous wins and Championships.
By 2020 he was a six-time World Champion (the second most of all time) with 88 individual race victories. Read More... “Lewis Hamilton, vegan racing driver”
Ana Cufer is recognised as a world class runner in one of the most demanding of disciplines – mountain running.
The Slovenian is established member of the national team and has represented her country in international events. In 2016 she began to make a significant impression on the sport with three course records among 12 wins. Read More... “Ana Cufer, vegan mountain runner”
Massimo Lepardi is known as someone who has worked hard to promote veganism in Italy through education – and by example as an internationally competitive athlete.
Unlike many athletes who have been active in a sport since childhood, Massimo started training in diving at age 49. Read More... “Massimo Lepardi, vegan diver”
Fia Kamlund has built up some amazing strength to bring her success in powerlifting. Competing in the 84kg category in both raw and equipped categories she has achieved a 430 kg raw total in competion and 512.5kg equipped.
These international level totals have brought her success in her home nation of Sweden, where she is national champion in equipped lifting. Read More... “Fia Kamlund, vegan powerlifter”
Kim Best has taken on the challenging and at time brutal sport of strongwoman with determination, and made an impression in a short time. She lives in Scotland, home of the Highland Games.
Competing in her debut competition at Scotland’s Strongest Woman 2018 Kim developed a taste for the sport and a year later she placed second. Read More... “Kim Best, vegan strongwoman”
Diana Taurasi is a national and international women’s basketball player who has achieved amazing things across a fulfilling career.
At 37 (in 2020) she plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women’s National Basketball Association (USA). She has won three Championships, one WNBA Most Valuable Player Award, two WNBA Finals MVP Awards and four Olympic Gold medals. Read More... “Diana Taurasi, vegan basketball player”
Hege Jenssen is a pro level kettlebell competitor who has competed in her native Norway as well as in international competition. She’s done particularly well in snatch, and on her debut in the professional class took 5th at the World Championships, and she’s also taken the bronze medal at the European Championships. Read More... “Hege Jenssen, vegan kettlebell athlete”
Sahyuri (Sahy) Lalime is an accomplished Belgian powerlifter with Japanese-American roots, She has competed nationally and internationally, achieving fantastic totals.
In 2018 and 2019 she won best overall female powerlifter at the Belgian Nationals. She has also competed at the IPF World and European Championships. Read More... “Sahy Lalime, vegan powerlifter”
Adam is one of the most respected spin bowlers of his generation, representing South Australia and the Australian National team. He’s also had success in the 20 Twenty format in some of the most competitive competitions on the globe. Adam played with Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder, and went on to take a highly contested place in the Indian Premier League. Read More... “Adam Zampa, vegan cricketer”
Belgian Mountain Biker Frans Claes competes nationally and internationally, and is established as a leading biker in his sport.
He has been Belgian Champion twice (2015 and 2016) and was the overall winner at the UCI World Series Marathon in 2017. Read More... “Frans Claes, vegan mountain biker”
Sofia Jokl is an experienced competitor in Japanese Ju-Jitsu, competing in the Duo-System at European and World level.
The Duo system involves pairs of competitors demonstrating self defence against attacks randomly called by a referee. Speed, realism, control and power are among the qualities judged. Read More... “Sofia Jokl, vegan Ju-Jitsu expert”
Melissa Sundermann, has been competing in cycling, running and multisport events – completing epic distances at elite times.
She was the first Amateur woman at the REV3 Ironman triathlon where she finished with a personal best of 10:57:20, crossing the line with her husband and children. Read More... “Melissa Sundermann, vegan endurance racer”
Shelli Beecher-Seitzler is a natural bodybuilder who has made an impressive impact on the sport in a short time.
After several people suggested she compete, she started training six days a week with the aim of competing. After five months she entered the 2018 INBF NW Royal Natural Bodybuilding Championship. Read More... “Shelli Beecher-Seitzler”
Borja Ignacio Perez Batet is a multisport athlete from Spain who competes internationally. He’s competed in the European and World Duathlon Championships, taking the 30-34 age group World title in 2016.
Borja has also run 10k in an extremely competitive 29:25, and among his results were a win in the San Silvestre Vallecana Amateur in 2017, a race with 45,000 runners. Read More... “Borja Perez Batet, vegan runner”
Chris Smalling has become a hot property in soccer. The English centre back plays for the world famous Manchester United in the English Premier League, and has also been picked for the English national team.
He signed for United in 2010 aged 21 and has helped the club towards the FA Cup (2016), Europe League title (2016-7) and an English league title (2016-7). Read More... “Chris Smalling, vegan footballer”
Andreas Vojta is an Austrian track athlete who has become the leading national track runner as well as a successful international competitor.
He has personal bests of 3:36 for the 1500 metres, 13.38 for 5000m and 28:33 for the 10,000 metres. Read More... “Andreas Vojta, vegan runner”