# Any world-class vegan athletes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2004, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418 "2004-02-10T08:53:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418/1 "2004-02-10T08:53:02Z")
I know veganism can be the basis of a healthy lifestyle; what about a lifestyle with much higher metabolic demand? Are there any successful world-class (or close to that) athletes that are strictly vegan? ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418/2 "2004-02-10T09:25:39Z")
Google found me a couple of sites: [A vegan bodybuilder](http://www.veganbodybuilder.com/) The bottom of [this page](http://www.vsdc.org/meatmyth.html) has a list of famous vegetarian/vegan athletes. I would guess that because the number of pure vegans is small, the likelihood of any one of them reaching the top of their profession is that much smaller as a result… Grim ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418/3 "2004-02-10T11:05:06Z")
The list includes Andreas Cahling, whom I remember once describing himself as a lacto-ovo vegetarian (i.e., his diet included dairy and eggs). I also don’t remember Cory Everson being a veggie at all - she was famous for eating lots of junk food and still getting really ripped for contests. This is all from long ago, they may have changed. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418/4 "2004-02-10T11:21:30Z")
I suspect some of them were not vegetarians while they were competeing, perhaps after they retired some have become vegie That Vegan body builder is impressive though, I’ll have to read the site in more detail at home I want to know what he eats! ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418/5 "2004-02-10T14:20:22Z")
A few Indian cricket stars are vegans, most notably Anil Kumble. According to [this article](http://www.petaindia.com/0903chapell.html) (Warning! PETA 😃 ) which references Kumble, so is Martina Navratilova, but she may be a more recent convert (though she’s still playing in doubles tournaments). ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418/6 "2004-02-10T16:35:26Z")
Check out [Mike Mahler](http://www.mikemahler.com/), another vegan bodybuilder. I don’t know if he’s world-class, but he is in fantastic shape. ---
**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418/7 "2004-02-11T05:50:59Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Check out [Mike Mahler](http://www.mikemahler.com/), another vegan bodybuilder. I don’t know if he’s world-class, but he is in fantastic shape. He’s pretty big, but not close to world class **Duke:** I don’t follow cricket. How distinguished is Kumble on the world scene? Martina during her prime would have made an excellent case. Was she vegan all along or a recent convert? \*\*F.U.S.:\*\*ovolacto doesn’t count **grimpixie:** The bodybuilder was toned but not large by any standard. Many of the athletes from the list on the VSDC page would meet the standard of world class, but it’d be nice to have more detail on dietary history (the webpage they refererence is defunct). ---
**Author:** ![mr\_moonlight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9f8e36/32.png) [@mr\_moonlight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_moonlight)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418/8 "2004-02-11T06:13:09Z")
[Carl Lewis](http://raverun.com/writings/run/sg2002/carllewis.html) became vegan in 1990. He claims that 1991 was his best year as an athlete. ---
**Author:** ![Arturius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Arturius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arturius)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418/9 "2004-02-11T06:18:30Z")
Anil Kumble is a very solid spin bowler, particularly at home (for those who dont know cricket, 99% of the time bowlers perform much better at home due to certain conditions being met). He’s very well known in cricket, and is a veteran of the sport. I wouldnt call him one of the greats, but any cricket fan would know him, and what he does (bowls leg spin). ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418/10 "2004-02-11T12:36:15Z")
[This picture](http://www.veganbodybuilder.com/images/bodybuilding2.jpg) from the Vegan body builder is scary… ---
**Author:** ![DeaganTheWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DeaganTheWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeaganTheWolf)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418/11 "2004-02-11T16:12:36Z")
bleh. Those samples aren’t good enough for me. To make a decent case for Vegan diet as a healthy lifestyle you’d need to match up an identical training program, \ and limit diet as the one differing factor. I suspect that most of those athletes became vegan later in life after having the benefits of milk, and animal proteins as a child. As for the bodybuilder, he was more Ripped than Big. His bodyfat was obviously low and he does possess an acceptable and impressive amount of muscle mass for a vegan, but he barely classifies as a body builder by today’s standards. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![Jerrybear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@Jerrybear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerrybear)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418/12 "2004-02-11T18:38:50Z")
I am pretty sure that Bill Walton was and may still be a vegetarian, not sure if he was ever vegan. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-world-class-vegan-athletes/228418/13 "2004-02-12T02:26:24Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > A few Indian cricket stars are vegans, most notably Anil Kumble. I thought anil kumble was a side effect of a vegan diet 😃