The Game Changers documentary was first released in September 2019 in Germany, but not until 2020 it drew so much attention from people across the globe. The movie unravels the truth about meat, protein, and strength, as well as presenting people who relate the most with those elements, such as elite athletes, special ops soldiers, and visionary scientists, to encourage people to eat better and consciously.
The Olympics have officially ended, but the digital footprint has been filled with sports matches and celebrations. Among all those matches and celebrations stand the game-changing plant-based athletes you all need to know!
Morgan Mitchell is the ??Omplyian Sprinter Who Won her First Title at the 2014 Australian National Championships. She went vegan in 2016, and it has made her a faster learner and also made her happier. She is also one of the athletes that was featured in the documentary The Game Changers. She shared what she eats in a day to enhance her performance and gain more energy. She usually eats tofu, beans, and mushrooms, along with spinach, vegan cheese, and hash browns; she is also a fan of Beyond Meat. “Ultimately helping the environment and not contributing to animal cruelty was a big thing for me, too. That was my initial reason to go vegan, and the rest of the benefits were just bonuses." She says.
The soccer star and Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan has been a vegan since 2017. In one of her interviews, Alex says, "As I started to go more plant-based, first giving up meat and then giving up dairy, I realized the health benefits. I would get reports from my doctor, and my cholesterol dropped in half, which is crazy. All of my blood work, which I do every few months, was better. And my recovery was much better; I wasn't fatiguing as much. So it benefited me all around. I was fearful it would detrimentally affect soccer, but it was the opposite. It made me feel better,"
3. Venus and Serena Williams
In 2012, Serena's sister, Venus Williams, was diagnosed with Sjogren syndrome, and since then, they both learned to make their diets mainly consist of plant-based foods. Williams says that being mostly plant-based or vegan helps her dial back debilitating joint pain and fatigue symptoms. "I started eating raw and vegan for health reasons," Venus told Women's Health in an interview. "I needed to fuel my body in the best way possible."
4. Vivian Kong
Vivian Kong is a vegan fencer who competed for Team Hong Kong at the Rio Olympics in 2016. She's now claiming medals for Hong Kong for the first time in the Asian games and taking two World Cups. She expressed her gratitude about being a vegan, "I saw all the benefits of being vegan, the ethical, the environmental, the social. All these things I could do to help contribute to a better, bigger cause.
5. Micky Papa
This is the first time skateboarding has been included in the Olympics—the 30 years old vegan Canadian specializing in the street style of skateboarding and making his Olympic debut. Papa went vegan about two years ago. He did it gradually, and now he's all about organic produce. He likes to start his training with coffee, organic roasted veggies seasoned with secret family recipes.
The most famous and number one tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic, went plant-based for over twelve years. He mentioned that being a vegan has helped him rise from third place to first place in the world because the plant-based diet helped clear his allergies. The allergies used to make him feel like he couldn't breathe and would be forced to retire from competitive matches as he did in Australia. "Eating meat was hard on my digestion, and that took a lot of essential energy that I need for my focus, for recovery, for the next training session, and for the next match," he said.
There are still many more vegan and plant-based athletes outside of the list, such as Cheavon Clarke, Daniel Bibby, Jade Carey, Amelia Brodka, and the list still goes on. These athletes prove that adopting a plant-based diet or being a vegan has nothing to do with their performances. If anything, it makes most of them perform better as an athlete and makes them happier as a person.
