A Vegetarian Diet is Fit for Champions
A vegetarian diet gives athletes the strength, speed, and stamina they need to leave their carnivorous competitors in the dust.
Minnesota Twins pitcher Pat Neshek, Atlanta Hawks Guard Salim Stoudamire, Ultimate Fighting Champ Mac Danzig, and Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Tony Gonzalez, have excelled on a vegetarian diet.
Olympian Carl Lewis has said that his best year of track competition was the first year that he ate a vegan diet. Bill Walton and Robert Parish, two of the greatest basketball players of all time, were vegetarians, and John Salley, another professional basketball star, is a vegan. So is ultra-marathon man Dom Repta, who has run 100 miles in just under 20 hours. Vegan runner Scott Jurek has won the Western States Endurance Run, a race of 100 miles, seven years in a row, setting a course record.
A healthy vegetarian diet helped propel two-time Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses over the hurdles. Tennis superstar Martina Navratilova, Heisman Trophy-winner Desmond Howard, and Dave Scott, a six-time winner of the Ironman triathlon, have also touted the benefits of a vegetarian diet.
Strength trainer Mike Mahler has reported that, “Becoming a vegan had a profound effect on my training. … [M]y bench press excelled past 315 pounds, and I noticed that I recovered much faster. My body fat also went down, and I put on 10 pounds of lean muscle in a few months.”
Four-time Mr. Universe Bill Pearl, powerlifting champion Bill Mannetti, and Stan Price, the world-record holder in bench press, have all reportedly eaten a vegetarian diet. These powerhouses aren’t alone—some of the strongest animals, such as apes, elephants, and giraffes, are vegetarian as well.
To learn more about vegetarian athletes, see the evidence section below.

Vegetarian athletes are prone to many nutritional deficiencies; including vitamin D, B-12, as well a protein deficiencies. The worlds fastest man, the worlds strongest man, and the worlds best swimmer,are all omnivores. You can get by on a vegetarian diet but you can't thrive.
List of vegetarian athletes:
Ridgely Abele
Winner of eight national championships in karate
Surya Bonaly
Olympic figure skating champion
Brendan Brazier
Professional Ironman triathlete
Peter Burwash
Davis Cup winner and professional tennis star
Andreas Cahling
Swedish champion bodybuilder, Olympic gold medallist in the ski jump
Chris Campbell
Olympic wrestling champion
Nicky Cole
First woman to walk to the North Pole
Ruth Heidrich
Six-time Ironwoman, USA track and field Master's champion
Keith Holmes
World-champion middleweight boxer
Desmond Howard
Professional football star, Heisman trophy winner
Peter Hussing
European super heavy- weight boxing champion
Scott Jurek
Ultramarathoner, Course Record Holder at Badwater and Western States
Debbie Lawrence
World record holder, women 's 5K racewalk
Sixto Linares
World record holder, 24-hour triathlon
Cheryl Marek and Estelle Gray
World record holders, cross-country tandem cycling
Ingra Manecki
World champion discus thrower
Bill Manetti
Power-lifting champion
Ben Matthews
U.S. Master's marathon champion
Dan Millman
World champion gymnast
Martina Navratilova
Champion tennis player
Paavo Nurmi
Long-distance runner, winner of nine Olympic medals and 20 world records
Bill Pearl
Four-time Mr. Universe
Bill Pickering
World record-holding swimmer
Stan Price
World weightlifting record holder, bench press
Murray Rose
Swimmer, winner of many Olympic gold medals and world records
Dave Scott
Six-time winner of the Ironman triathlon
Art Still
Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs MVP defensive end, Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame
Jane Wetzel
U.S. National marathon champion
Charlene Wong Williams
Olympic champion figure skater