Vegans Thriving. Elite Vegan Athletes
New news
Tricky training conditions as 2020 unfolds have not dented the ability of Andreas Vojta, who has completed a fantastic race in Switzerland.
The Austrian vegan registered the fastest Outdoor 1500 m of the season in Europe just weeks ago, and this time turned his attention to a 10,000 metre event. Read More... “Vegan runner runs world-leading 10,000m”
Vegan runner Areas Vojta currently finds himself top of the pile after recording the fastest outdoor 1500m of the season in Europe.
In his first race after lockdown, the Austrian ran 3:42 in Prague. This was not his normal distance and one which he didn’t prepare specifically for. Read More... “Vegan runner is Europe’s fastest”
Probably the leading reason Great Vegan Athletes was formed was to showcase the achievements of amazing vegans and to redress misconceptions. Inevitably, the athletes inspire people to consider the benefits of veganism, and this is where our partnership with Challenge 22 is helping people make the transition. Read More... “Transition to vegan with Challenge 22”
Cam Awesome has opened up recently about some of the fights he’s taken on – before he gets in the ring to fight.
The multiple US National Heavyweight and Superheavyweight champion has been recognised for his national and international success but it hasn’t been easy. Read More... “Vegan boxing champ starts speaking course for athletes”
Gyms are closed, classes are cancelled and millions of us can’t train or compete as we used to. Luckily some elite vegan athletes are available to assist with some training videos we can follow in our own homes.
Andreas Vojta and Vlad Ixel have released videos ideal for the aspiring runner. Read More... “Elite vegan athletes ready to train you through the lockdown”
While millions of people are on lockdown, vegan athletes are finding inventive and resourceful ways to train. Three have turned their training into challenges to inspire others and raise some funds for good causes.
Matthew LeBlanc has run a 3:04:48 marathon and won the 24 hour White Lake Ultra. Read More... “Lockdown vegans take on big challenges”
The Olympics, planned for just a few months’ time, will now not go ahead this year, and will be rescheduled for 2021. The postponement means that plans will change for hundreds of athletes, including four hopeful vegans.
New plans
Australian Morgan Mitchell has been looking forward to representing her nation in the 400 metres for the second time, running individually and in the relay. Read More... “Olympic delay forces changes for vegan athletes”
Lisa Gawthorne recorded her best ever finish at the European Duathlon Championships with 6th in her age group after a great race in Andalusia, Spain.
She’s competed at European and World level for several years now, and the recent run-bike-run event saw her stepping up a gear to beat her previous performances in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Read More... “Best ever finish for vegan athlete at Euro Champs”
Belgian vegan Sahy Lalime defended her Belgian national title with a set of monster lifts at the national powerlifting championships.
There were troubling developments in the week leading up to the meet as she struggled to make the weight, eventually sweating her way to 63kg to qualify for her weight category. Read More... “Another national title for vegan powerlifter”
Vegan Olympic-style lifter Ramona Cadogan had her first meet of the year and did not disappoint as she continues to emphasise her class.
At the Brooklyn meet she closed the gaps on the national records as she took first in the Masters Divisions. Read More... “Vegan closes in on national records”
Getting to a World Powerlifting Championships is an achievement in itself, and after success in the US, vegan lifter Nick Squires crossed the Atlantic to take on further challenges in the IPL Championships in Limerick, Ireland.
Despite the challenges of competing away from home and after travelling, he was clearly there to make an impression – and did that. Read More... “Vegan lifts his best to top World Championships”
Vegan powerlifter Nick Squires has broken the State record for deadlift in his home state of California.
Competing in the 100 kg, Open age group category, Nick lifted 295 kg (650.36 lb) to beat the previous record of 287.5 kg.
Leaving with the Gold medal for Deadlift and Silver for total (Benchpress, Squat and Deadlift), Nick came close to even greater things as technical errors failed some lifts including a squat 20lb above his previous personal best. Read More... “Vegan powers to state record”
Vegan mountainbiker Frans Claes took on the incredibly tough Imbuko Big Five MTB Challenge in South Africa – and faced more than he expected. The South African one-day event sees riders facing a 75 km course with five peaks totally over 3000 metres of height gain. Read More... “Gut reaction can’t stop vegan biker”
Starting the season well might be something of an understatement for vegan track athlete Andreas Vojta.
Weeks ago the Austrian took a win over 1500 m distance despite focussing on 3000m and 5000m. Next he turned his attention to 3000 m in Linz at the Gul Indoor meet where he faced a strong field where he was not considered the favourite. Read More... “Vegan runner takes international track win”
Teenage bike racer Sam Lochoff has been overcoming obstacles as his reputation grows – although there’s one obstacle which so far has been unbeatable.
The 17 year old is currently preparing for the MotoAmerica championship where he is tipped as a title contender. Read More... “Vegan biker aims to win series – as he searches for vegan bike suit”
Vegan runner and multiple national Champion Andreas Vojta made the best of January with a few weeks in Portugal. The warmer weather saw him training 150 km per week in preparation for indoor 3000m races – and the Olympic qualification period for 5000 metres. Read More... “Track win for vegan runner”
Vegan strongwoman Kim Best has taken on a classic strength event – and broken the world record. She now holds the world record for the greatest weight carried by a female athlete after carrying 350 kg in the yoke walk.
See the video below on our instagram
Kim had competed at Scotland’s Strongest Woman last year where she broke the national record for the yoke walk and held it very briefly as it was broken again during the event. Read More... “Vegan strongwoman takes world record”
Australian potter Neil Robertson had sports writers flicking through the archive as her wrapped up the final of the European Masters in double quick time.
Taking the final 9 frames to nil meant that just one frame was played in the second session – and it was the first time a major two-session snooker final had been won without conceding a frame in the final since Steve Davis did the same in 1989. Read More... “Snooker’s vegan thunder makes history (twice)”
Great Vegan Athletes is pleased to open the virtual doors to two new online stores. The stories sell our T-shirts, training tops, hoodies, vests and more.
Plans have been in the pipeline for a while, and the stores cover Europe and North America meeting the high ethical and environmental standards we’ve been looking for. Read More... “Great Vegan Athletes online store opens”
Israel’s leading ultramarathon runner Ariel Rosenfeld has taken a national record in a new event than pushed runners to their limits.
The event was based on a 1.5 km course and held three events were available – 100 km, 100 mile and 24 hours. Read More... “Vegan breaks 24 hour race record”
We started the year with a post about Senior athlete Ellen Jaffe Jones, who competed in the hotly contested 65-60 category of the Florida Senior Games in six track events. Incredibly she came away with six medals. (more here ). Read More... “2019 vegan athletes – review of the Year”
Veteran vegan fighter David Meyer has added to his incredible list of honours with a World title at the IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championships. The achievement was even more impressive because the 56 year old fought in two categories.
Competing in Anaheim, California, he lost a close final to take bronze in his own weight category (medium heavy) as well as taking Gold in the Open weight category for his age bracket, Master 6. Read More... “Vegan fighter takes world title no 9!”
Cam Awesome has already had enough of a sports career to write a film plot. He made paperwork errors which led to getting banned for missing a drug test – which scuppered his hopes for the 2012 Olympics.
Four years later he was vegan and had collected dozens of US national and international honours at heavyweight and superheavyweight – and was tipped for success in the 2016 games. Read More... “Vegan takes awesome national title”
Vegan runner and vegan food entrepreneur Lisa Gawthorne was called to England team for the second time this year for the British and Irish Masters’ 6 km cross country race.
Representing Vegan Runners UK, Lisa has also been competing this year at the European and World sprint duathlon championships. Read More... “England XC runner does it on plants”
Vegan Neil Robertson had to dig deep into his mental reserves to take a massive win at the Champion of Champions.
The tournament invites sixteen current champions of major tournaments and includes the pats winner. Neil was the current champion, although he would have qualified from winning the China Open. Read More... “Vegan holds his nerve to win battle of Champions”
Vegan strongman Patrik Baboumian has responded to 4 x World’s Strongest Man Brian Shaw’s invitation to train together. Shaw also invited Patrik to challenge the meat-eating American in a competitive lift.
The exchange was started when Shaw responded to a message on Shaw’s social media criticising Baboumian and asking Shaw to beat Patrik’s world records to quieten down the vegan buzz surrounding sports and veganism following the release of The Game Changers last month. Read More... “Vegan strongman’s challenge to 4 x World’s Strongest Man”
The last few months have been fantastic for Great Vegan Athletes, and this has brought rewards and challenges.
In October we had an incredible 239 people start a vegan program with Challenge 22 after clicking on the links in our site. Read More... “Great Vegan Athlete site sees massive growth – and finds new challenges”
Earlier this year Yolanda Presswood competed in her home state of California, and qualified for the USPA Drug Tested Nationals in Las Vegas. The Nationals offered a chance to continue the astonishing achievements that have seen her take titles and records after a short time in the sport. Read More... “Vegan powers to nine records at lifting meet”
Vegan weightlifter Ramona Cadogan faced injury ahead of one of the biggest competitions in her sport.
“I had a back sprain for about 6 weeks” she says. “I had only about 5 weeks to prepare for the Masters World Cup. I would have been stronger at the competition if I was not injured.” Read More... “World Silver for vegan lifter”
19th October 2019
Former world champion James Southwood went into the 2019 European Savate Championships in good form. He credits good training, and while his recent 40th birthday placed him among the older competitors, he retains excellent fitness to complement his experience. Read More... “Vegan fighter takes Silver”