WEEKEND READ: Veganism has spread through the sports world. There are vegan athletes competing professionally in almost every sport you can think of: Formula One has Lewis Hamilton; Jiu Jitsu has Sofia Jokl; strongman competitions have Patrik Baboumian. But it’s not just individual world-famous sports stars for whom veganism is a central part of their sporting lives. A growing number of teams and clubs are populated entirely by vegans.

Kale Madrid is an all-vegan football team in Bristol, founded last year by 26-year-old local Matt Mead, who “just thought it would be good to be able to connect with other vegans in a fun, casual environment.” 

In the running world, Vegan Runners has become something of a phenomenon. A nationwide athletics club, Vegan Runners had 1,700 paid-up members as of 2017. They help encourage vegans to take up running while also promoting “a cruelty-free lifestyle” among runners. “I do it for the sense of community,” says one member, “like we're all doing something together which is somehow... special. It's more motivating for me to run with a 'purpose'.”

At least one Crossfit gym in the UK has a large number of vegan members. Becky, who runs a blog about veganism, fitness, and personal finance, says that the majority of people at her gym are now vegan. “It kind of came about unintentionally really,” she says. “More and more of us became vegan ... because we could see how much stronger and fitter the vegans were becoming.” One aspect of being in a mostly vegan gym she enjoys is having so many people to share new recipe ideas with. Though she says she started out as a vegan for health reasons, she finds the idea of eating animals “horrible” and wouldn’t go back to it. “Plus I'm now more interested in food and love meals,” she says.

This is quite a different experience to Danette Rivera, a crossfitter in California, who describes being the “resident vegan athlete” in a gym “packed with paleos.” But she finds that her gym mates see how fit she is and come to her to talk nutrition. “I love being a walking example that contradicts the misconceptions that a plant-based diet can’t possibly build muscle or contribute to athletic gains,” she writes.

Never miss an article

Stay up-to-date with the weekly Surge newsletter to never miss an article, media production or investigation. We respect your privacy.

There are many health benefits to cutting animal products out of your diet, such as a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer, but does it actually improve athletic performance? A study published last year in the journal Nature found that there was not a significant difference between vegans and non-vegans on muscle strength in “young lean active women”, while the vegans had better levels of endurance.

Much of the positive evidence for the performance-enhancing powers of a vegan diet seems to be anecdotal. Academic and triathlete Loukia Lili-Williams writes that “Despite the fact that presently there is not enough scientific evidence to support benefits of one diet vs. the other, carefully scheduled plant-based diets seem to improve the mood, health, training, recovery and performance on race day for an increasing number of athletes.”

As was the case in the beginning for Becky from the crossfit gym, the potential performance benefits of veganism can be the main motivator for cutting out meat and dairy, rather than compassion towards animals. And some seemingly vegan sports clubs might actually only abide by the diet for training purposes. This is the case for “the world’s first vegan football club” Forest Green Rovers from Gloucestershire, which made headlines four years ago when they played in the Football League for the first time. While the club is vegan, serving only vegan food at their home stadium, the players only have to eat plant-based meals at matches and training but are not all vegan outside of those contexts.

This is why it’s so encouraging to see athletics clubs and sports teams like Kale Madrid and Vegan Runners taking committed veganism into the realm of fitness, making sport another space in which living a cruelty-free life can bring people together.

Claire Hamlett is a freelance journalist, writer and regular contributor at Surge. Based in Oxford, UK, Claire tells stories that challenge systemic exploitation of and disregard for animals and the environment and that point to a better way of doing things.

Your support makes a huge difference to us. Supporting Surge with a monthly or one-off donation enables us to continue our work to end all animal oppression.

LATEST ARTICLES