Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The Who's Who of Vegan Athletes


I decided to get crafty this morning by making my own almond milk. Almond milk is hard to find in Switzerland (quelle surprise), but I'm happy to make my own since it's simple to do.

My online recipe search took me on a red herring that I have not returned from when I came across a video clip of an ardent Carl Lewis in the kitchen, making roasted vegetable lasagna in what looks like some sort of taped home economics class from the late 90's.

It reminded me that I've been meaning to do a round-up of notable vegan athletes, so I've put the almond milk plans aside, done some research and checked and double checked the following list to ensure there are no sneaky cheese-eaters or whey-drinkers in it (the list of vegetarian athletes is much, much too long to include here).

So, here we have the round-up of the athletes of our time who are fueled by plants:

* Carl Lewis, Olympic Sprinter, Winner of 9 Gold Medals
* Dave Scott, 5 time Ironman World Champion
* Martina Navratilova, Former World #1 Womens Tennis Player
* Catherine Johnson, Elite Cyclist
* James Southwood, Savate Martial Artist
* Katie Coryell, Pro Surfer
* Kenneth Williams, Pro Bodybuilder
* Maria Vlasak, Elite Duathlete
* Molly Cameron, Pro Cyclist
* Scott Jurek, Ultramarathoner and 7 Time Winner of Western States 100 Miler
* Tim VanOrden, Mountain Runner
* Adam Myerson, Pro Cyclist
* Robert Cheeke, Bodybuilder
* Brendan Brazier, Pro Triathlete and winner of the Canadian 50K Ultramarathon Championships
* Jason Sager, Pro Mountain Biker
* Keith Holmes, Former World Champion Middleweight Boxer
* Sally Eastall, UK #2 Marathon Runner
* Lucy Stephens, Triathlete
* Pam Boteler, Canoeist
* Tonya Kay, Pro Dancer
* Christine Vardaros, Pro Cyclist
* Mac Danzig, Mixed Martial Arts Fighter
* Schulyer Love, Boxer
* Tim VanOrden, Mountain Runner
* Paul Chetirkin, Adventure Racer
* Ruth Heidrich, Six Time Ironman Finisher and Holder of the World Age-group (60-64) Fitness Record at the Cooper Clinic

For the athletes that I have done some further reading on from this list, all of them had their best performances after becoming vegan; most notably, Lewis won all nine gold medals after he made the switch.

So, is this good evidence that vegan diets are better for athletic performance? No, it isn't. That would be an example of poor logic. What this list shows is that a diet that includes animal products is not necessary for top physical performance (and for the less actively-inclined amongst us, I see no reason why this relationship could not be regressed to the conclusion that eating animal products is not necessary for general good health in the non-athlete; if I have overlooked something in my reasoning here, I welcome comments).

The challenge that this represents to conventional dietary thinking is, I think, enough to chew on for now. Once I have figured out how to make my almond milk, I might spend some time looking for studies that have tested the grander hypothesis.

20 comments:

  1. Thanks for mentioning me! Without my vegan diet i am certain that i would never have raced multiple times at World Championships for the US National team! Best of luck! I look forward to reading all about it.

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  2. You are are most welcome, Christine. I have read your blog and seen some of your race results; both are very inspiring! If you are ever racing in the Lake Geneva region of Switzerland, drop me a line and you have a place to stay.

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  3. Some very interesting stuff on here:
    http://www.organicathlete.org/guide

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  4. Thanks for the mention and thanks for doing what you are doing, Rachel. If you get a chance and have a television (I don't!) this weekend I will appear on the History Channel's "More Extreme Marksmen" Jan 25, 8pm PST. My knife throwing partner, Jack Dagger, and I are doing stunts WE didn't even know we could do in this 20 min high def, high frame rate national feature.

    Meanwhile, I just wanted to let you know about two other projects I am currently filming, which might be of more interest. One is called Bold Native, and you can watch the initial image story here http://www.openroadfilms.net/boldnative.html. This film, in which I play the comedic lead "I Rock", follows the lives of young Animal Liberation Front activists, wanted for terrorism in the United States. The second film I am currently shooting is called Dancer With A Camera, in which I again, will be playing a lead, however this time all characters are tap dancers! And I am choreographing this one, too!

    That's about as exciting as it gets for me, personally. Thank you for being a shining example of what a hard core plant based female athlete can be!

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  5. Hi Rachel,

    Sadly, I'm a sneaky cheese eater. Last year I had so much stress and traveling and lack of control over my life, I went back to being just vegetarian for a while.

    This year I'm back on top of things and have been nearly completely vegan. But I do think people's preferences are as important as their absolute practice. For me that's the only way to stay sane.

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  6. Hi Rachel,
    Thanks for mentioning OrganicAthlete's pro-activist members. We're doing everything we can to get the word out about vegan athletes.

    Keep up the great work.

    -Bradley

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  7. Hi Tonya,

    Thanks; I have limited Swiss TV so I won't be able to catch the shows, but it's great to hear what you are working on. I remember seeing you on stage in Stomp about 5 years ago in Vancouver; you stood out as one of the most electric dancers. Hope you'll be reading from time to time!

    Rachel.

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  8. Hi Adam,

    Thanks for coming clean :-) I am going to leave you on my list since you are back on the vegan straight and narrow. Good luck in your races this year!

    Rachel.

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  9. Hi Bradley,

    I compiled my list of vegan athletes the hard way; without having discovered organicathelete.org! Did I miss anyone?

    Rachel.

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  10. thanks for mentioning me! Without my vegan diet i am certain that i would never have raced multiple times at World Championships for the US National team! Best of luck! I look forward to reading all about it.


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