[jimbo2012]

Carl Lewis

Carl Lewis is probably the most well known, historic vegan Olympian in the world or at least the U.S. He won 10 Olympic medals, 9 of which were gold. His Olympic career ran from 1979 to 1996. He wrote an introduction for Jannequin Bennett in her book “Very Vegetarian” saying, “It’s a myth that muscles, strength and endurance require the consumption of large quantities of animal-based foods. This myth began before anyone even talked about protein.” He ended his introduction with, “Your body is your temple. If you nourish it properly, it will be good to you and you will increase its longevity.”

Chris Campbell

Chris Campbell is a world champion and Olympic bronze medalist wrestler. He is a pure vegetarian and one of the oldest men to win an Olympic medal –At the age of 37, he won the bronze medal for the 1992 Olympic team in Barcelona, Spain.

Hannah Teter

This list may seem filled with wrestlers, runners and figure skaters but there are vegetarians in other aspects of the Olympic games. Hannah Teter for instance is a vegetarian and also a gold and silver Olympic medalist for snowboarding.

She told the Huffington Post in 2010, “I feel stronger than I’ve ever been, mentally, physically, and emotionally. My plant-based diet has opened up more doors to being an athlete. It’s a whole other level that I’m elevating to. I stopped eating animals about a year ago, and it’s a new life. I feel like a new person, a new athlete.”

Bode Miller

Bode millar has been a vegetarian since birth. He has won five medals in the Winter Olympics for different ski disciplines.

Edwin Moses

Edwin Moses was a force to be reckoned with in the track and field arena. He won gold medals in the 400m hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. He won 107 consecutive finals in 122 consecutive races and set the world record in his event four times.

Moses is a confirmed vegetarian, humanitarian and advocate for peace. He

Debbi Lawrence

Debbi Lawrence has been a three-time Olympian and holds the world record for the women’s 5K racewalk event. She believes that her success as an athlete is largely due to hard work and a vegetarian diet.

Murray Rose

Murray Rose he is fondly remembered as one of the worlds most historic vegan athletes. He was Australia’s Olympic swimming star. He had set 15 world records and won six Olympic medals, including four golds, which made him a sports legend and hero in Australia.

During Rose’s long career he ate a vegan diet and followed a vegan lifestyle. In 1958 he told Groucho Marx on the radio program “You Bet Your Life” that his gold medals in 1956 could be attributed to his veganism.

Paavo Nurmi, the "Flying Finn," set twenty world records in distance running, and won nine Olympic medals. He was a vegetarian.

Bill Pickering of Great Britain set the world record for swimming the English channel, but that performance of his pales beside the fact that at the age of 48 he set a new world record for swimming the Bristol Channel. Bill Pickering is a vegetarian.

Andreas Cahling, the Swedish body builder who won the 1980 Mr. International title, is a vegetarian, and has been for over ten years of highest level international competition