Despite the huge array of evidence indicating that a balanced plant-based diet is beneficial to our health and can reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancers and diabetes, many of us still come to doubt whether or not you can thrive athletically as a vegan.
But for many years now, vegan athletes have been putting these doubts to bed, showing that a plant-based diet is not only healthy but can also be incredibly beneficial for your athletic performance. There are more and more professional and amateur athletes embracing the vegan lifestyle, who are absolutely crushing it in their sport.
On a personal level, it was actually reading Scott Jurek’s “Eat & Run” that served as the spark to set me on my way to learning more about living plant-based and ultimately taking the decision to become vegan. Back in 2015 when I was reading this book, it was amazing to me to learn that not only could you fuel such incredible feats of endurance entirely on plants, but that it could actually aid performance and recovery.
It wasn’t long before I realised that Scott was just one of many athletes that was making this realisation, so let’s explore a handful of these inspirational vegan athletes and what sets them apart.
Notes: I’ll be honest. As an avid runner myself, this list is very runner heavy (mostly because I am just more aware of them) but I will be sure to feature a wider variety of sports in future lists.
Scott Jurek
Of course, it makes sense to begin in the same place it all started for me. Named as one of the greatest runners of all time, during his career he won almost all of the major ultrarunning events, both on the trail and the road, including the Badwater Ultramarathon in 2005 and 2006 (a 135-mile road ultra in Death Valley in 50ºC heat), the Hardrock 100 in 2007 (a notoriously tough 100-miler with 66,000ft of elevation change), Spartathlon in 2006, 2007, and 2008 (a historic 153-miler from Athens to Sparti, based on the run of Pheidippides, who ran from Athens to Sparta in a day and a half to seek aid against the Persians before the Battle of Marathon), and the Western States 100 (the worlds oldest 100 mile trail race), where he dominated between 1999-2005.
After what you might call his peak years, he wasn’t done. In 2015 he went on to set the Fastest Known TIme for the 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail!
His book “Eat & Run” is a great read, exploring his illustrious career whilst providing great plant-based recipes and explaining how his plant-based lifestyle aided his many achievements.
Lewis Hamilton
By 2017, Lewis Hamilton had already enjoyed 10 years of huge success in Formula 1, bursting onto the scene at Mclaren in 2007, becoming the then-youngest World Drivers Champion a year later in 2008, plus a further 2 times in 2014 and 2015.
So when he announced that he had become vegan in 2017, in many ways it could have been seen as a risk, making such a big change to his nutrition when at the height of his career. He cited animal welfare, environmental, and health reasons for the switch, and later spoke about all of the physical and mental benefits that he experienced. These include reduced mood-swings, a reduction in fatigue, more stable energy levels, as well as better sleep and mental clarity.
The proof is in the pudding, as since making the switch he has won a further 4 World Drivers Championships (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020), making him the joint-record holder with Michael Schumacher with 7 titles each. At the time of writing he also holds the record for most wins (105), pole positions (104), and podium finishes (202).
Jasmin Paris
Jasmin made history in 2024, becoming the first woman to complete the Barkley Marathons.
Notorious for it’s difficulty, and shrouded in secrecy, the Barkley Marathons has gained a cult-like status and is a race like no other. It consists of 5 loops of “20-miles” (though nobody knows the exact distance), and has enough off-trail elevation gain to reach the summit of Everest twice. Since it’s beginning in 1986, the full 5 loops have only been completed 26 times by 20 different runners in the 60 hour cutoff time – but at the time of writing Jasmin is the only one female to achieve this feat.
On her third attempt, and just over 1 minute of the 60 hours remaining, Jasmin managed to stumble her way to the infamous yellow gate, cementing her place in the history books.
On top of this incredible achievement, she is also co-founder of the Green Runners, a community of runners who pledge to make environmentally-conscious decisions around their running, such as avoiding flying to events, and avoiding buying new kit as much as possible.
As a father to a young daughter, I find Jasmin to be a huge inspiration, and exactly the type of role model we need more of.
Elena Congost
I am a British expat who has made Spain their home, so this is an exciting one for me. Elena is a Spanish T12/B2 track-and-field athlete. She was born with a degenerative hereditary sight impairment, and has competed at the Paralympics 5 times, winning the marathon in 2016 in Rio. She also won a silver medal in the 1500m in 2012.
She is known for her versatility as an athlete, having competed in the long jump, 100 metres, 1500m and marathon.
She has been vegan since 2016, citing ethical, environmental, and health reasons for the change, and credits her plant-based lifestyle with significantly improving her anemia, digestive problems and other ailments.
Speaking of her decision, she said “I had more energy, vitality and I felt super good. I started to feel much better and the workouts were superb. Then, when you find out what the food industry does to animals, you just convince yourself to continue with the lifestyle. They tell me I’m crazy but my results have endorsed my decision.”
Robbie Balenger
Robbie is an ultra-endurance athlete that I only came across a few months ago, but I instantly connected with his story.
He is an athlete who seeks out huge athletic projects, and among those projects was the Colorado Crush. This was a set of lofty bucket-list items ticked off around Colorado in the span of 63 days. He summited all of Colorado’s 58 peaks over 14,000 feet, completed the Leadville Trail Marathon, Leadville 100-miler, Leadville Silver Rush 50-miler, and traversed the Colorado Trail (485 miles in 11.5 days). Altogether, he covered almost 1,200 miles and over 300,000 feet of elevation gain in those 63 days.
He then completed the 3,175 mile transcontinental run across America from Huntingdon Beach, CA, to Central Park, averaging 43 miles a day for 73 days.
He did this to spread the word about what can be achieved on a plant-based diet, and he certainly did just that!
Conclusion
These inspiring vegan athletes are just a few examples of how a plant-based diet can not only be healthy but can also positively affect your athletic performance. Whether you are a professional or amateur athlete, making the switch to a vegan diet may just help you to reach new personal bests and even set new records. And as more and more of the world’s top athletes show, a vegan diet does not mean that you are going to be weak, but rather that you can reach your physical potential.
References
“Lewis Hamilton Once Shared Shared Vegan Diet Helped In Mood Swings: Study Reveals How Plant-Based Diet Helps In Reducing Depressive Symptoms.” Vivek Kumar, OnlyMyHealth, 2024. [https://www.onlymyhealth.com/vegan-diet-may-help-in-reducing-depressive-symptoms-study-12977821763]
“Robbie Balenger Is A Plant-based Ultra-Endurance Athlete”. 2025. [https://www.robbiebalenger.com/]
“Robbie Balenger Ran Across America on a Vegan Diet: ‘It Changed My Life'”. Hailey Welch, TheBeet, 2021. [https://thebeet.com/robbie-balenger-ran-across-america-on-a-vegan-diet-it-changed-my-life/]
“Scott Jurek”. Great Vegan Athletes, 2025. [https://www.greatveganathletes.com/scott-jurek-vegan-ultramarathon-runner/#:~:text=Scott%20has%20been%20vegan%20since,advocates%20a%20100%25%20vegan%20diet.]
“Elena Congost”. Great Vegan Athletes, 2025. [https://www.greatveganathletes.com/elena-congost-vegan-runner/]