Vegan sisters wrestle for the USA!
Two vegan sisters are celebrating after making Team USA for the World Championship Tournament.
Mia Macaluso has made the senior 60 kg (Beach World Team) category while younger sister Sofia represents the Under 20s at 57 kg. Mia has been in the squad for four years, which means she’s been ranked in the top 3 nationally. Last year she was national #1 in the Under 20 age category.
This is Sofia’s first time on the World Team.
Women’s Freestyle Wrestling has been an Olympic sport since 2004 and Beach Wrestling is tipped to be part of the 2028 games. Mia is just days away from dates in France and Greece in the UWW World Beach Series. Then Mia will wrestle in the Beach World Championships in Romania. Sofia’s off to Spain for the U20 World Team in July then Bulgaria for the U20 World Championships.
Vegan
Mia has been vegan for a year and Sofia has been vegan since 2020.
“The main reason was the love of animals & the environment” they say. “With this change, we noticed an immediate change in our performance for the better. We both made our first World Teams as Vegan Athletes. Better weight management, and overall when eating clean your body/mind/spirit is in synch.”
They also love their food.
“My favorite cuisines are Indian and Thai because they have many vegan meals off the bat. My favorite protein packed meals are my buddha bowls, with quinoa, sweet potato, chickpeas, tofu, spinach, and peas with a lime chipotle sauce”
Sofia says.
“Being Vegan has been nothing but good for me. I have more energy, I can maintain my weight easier which can be challenging for wrestlers. I’m also becoming a better cook. I was a vegetarian my whole life prior to making the transition over 2 yrs ago. Being a Vegan has definitely contributed to my performance on the mat this year.”
Mia loves Italian and Indian food and any meal using vegan meat substitute. “I also love buddha bowls and breakfast smoothies with Almond Milk. When home, Sofia & I use the Almond Cow Machine to make our own Almond Milk. We were raised vegetarians but I transitioned over to Vegan over a year ago. I’m able to maintain my weight easier & feel stronger which actually shocks people. I’m meeting more and more athletes that are adding plant based days to their diets and can see them making the full switch when seeing success in their performance. I’m also happy to see that most restaurants are offering Vegan meals now.”
It’s fantastic to see these young athletes competing at such a high level as vegans and can’t wait to see how they get on in their upcoming challenges.
The girls are also looking for sponsors. If you can help, contact us and we’ll put you in touch!
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