Aside from the ever-present endurance athletes like Brendan Brazier, Scott Jurek, and Rich Roll, I usually have to dig and search for news about plant-based athletes in mainstream sports, but this weekend was very, very different. First, Serena Williams (supposedly following a raw vegan diet) wins Wimbledon singles and then wins doubles with her also supposedly raw vegan sister, Venus. Pretty big deal.
Vegan.
And then, NFL running back Arian Foster announces he’s gone vegan (although only for a week so far). It’ll be really interesting to see what happens with his performance this year – I’m betting he’ll be quicker, faster, and able to recover more quickly from each game, but you never know in the NFL. Not surprisingly, he’s been receiving a whole lot of backlash from fans and writers about this diet change – will he go soft now that he doesn’t have “muscle-building” meat in his system? Has everyone forgotten that Tony Gonzalez, the most prolific Tight End ever to play the game and famous for going over the middle, has been vegan for years? Here’s what I’m wondering – If Foster comes back and puts up huge numbers this season, will other skill players follow suit? Will we see Larry Fitzgerald drinking a green smoothie during a postgame interview? Only time will tell. What do you think?
thanks for featuring these amazing athletes. I’m only concerned about your use of the word “supposedly” when referring to the Williams sisters. Maybe it is just me but this word implies some lack of faith or belief in their sincerity. These two women have shown themselves to be very straightforward and honest in their lives, and I think there is no “supposedly” about it. Regardless… it’s an amazing time to be eating a diet exclusively plant-based.
I just used the word supposedly for the sake of accuracy because I’m not entirely sure they have completely stuck to the diet. I know they went raw vegan several months ago, but I haven’t heard them say anything about it recently. I hope they’re still on it and that Serena or Venus will say something about it during their interviews over the coming weeks.
There is no evidence Serena really adopted raw veganism – what she’s stated is that she’s been supportive of her sister, NOT bringing home foods that Venus can’t eat. But she doesn’t make the claim that she’s vegan, and never has.
Most of the reports available conclusively show Venus is raw vegan – but the speculation is Serena is NOT – especially because the US Olympic team generally doesn’t allow full-on vegan diets for their athletes.
The only places that seem to claim Serena is a raw vegan are the vegan boards, it seems.
I guarantee you Serena has been taking some points out of Venus’ plant-based playbook at the very least. What really concerns me is the stupidity of the US Olympic team not allowing full-on vegan diets. I don’t necessarily think every athlete needs to go vegan, but the idea that it somehow would put them at a disadvantage is just foolish. The people running US Olympics need to read up a little more on nutrition, it seems.
Great story, thanks for sharing!! Love Venus and Serena, so happy to hear they have gone vegan!