14 vegan athletes at the Paris Olympics

The Paris 2024 Olympics may be over and the competitors already looking to their next event, but there’s still time to celebrate the achievements of some awesome vegan athletes. Just making it to the Olympic Games is a huge accomplishment only achievable by the best of the best, so what more proof do you need that you can excel in any sport following a vegan diet?!

1. Macris Carneiro – Volleyball – Brazil

Macris Carneiro, nicknamed the vegan fairy (Fada Vegana), was vegan when she helped Brazil’s volleyball team take the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and at the 2022 World Championships. This year, the team made the final stages after some conclusive early wins, dropping their first set in the semi-finals in a tie-break loss to USA. They won the bronze medal.

2. Ana Carolina da Silva – Volleyball – Brazil

Brazil’s volleyball team had two vegans at the heart of the team. Ana Carolina da Silva turned vegan in 2018 after her teammate Macris Carneiro made the change and saw her performance improve. Like her vegan teammate, she was part of the team that took silver at both the Tokyo Olympics and the World Championships. Now she can add another Olympic medal to her achievements as a vegan.

3. Jan Zimmerman – Men’s volleyball – Germany

Sticking with volleyball but this time the men’s event. Jan Zimmerman played in the German team who made the quarterfinals and finished 6th overall. Paris was his first Olympics but he was a European Championship silver medallist in 2017 and took the gold medal at the European Games in 2015.

4. Constantin Preis – 400m hurdles – Germany

On the track, Constantin Preis competed in the 400 metre hurdles. Although he didn’t medal this year, he is a three-time German champion, Diamond League competitor and made the finals at the Tokyo Olympics. He became vegan in 2018, after a year as a vegetarian, to minimise injuries:

“There are so many benefits, but the bottom line is that it all starts with better blood circulation. By giving up dairy products, the plaque and everything that had built up has disappeared. Now that my blood circulation is better, the muscles can be optimally supplied and the muscular problems have minimised.”

5. Jonas Raess – 5000 metres – Switzerland

Switzerland’s Jonas Raess was involved in an unusual 5,000 metre heat. Several runners fell and qualifications were awarded on appeal. Unfortunately, Jonas was not able to progress with his time of 13:55. Jonas competed in the Tokyo Olympics and already has eight national titles to his name, and holds both the 3,000 and 5,000 metre records in Switzerland.

He’s vegan for ethical reasons, saying: “I myself could not kill an animal. So I asked myself the basic question: ‘Why eat animals if I am unable to kill them?’”

6. Vivian Kong – Épée Fencing – Hong Kong

Vivian Kong is a legend in the fencing arena and made her third appearance at the Olympics. Although she’s been World Champion and world number one, she had failed to win a medal at the Olympics… until now. Vivian took the gold medal in the Individual Épée Fencing competition, coming back from 7-1 down in the final set. She says that she became much stronger after turning vegan.

7. Eleanor Harvey – Foil Fencing – Canada

Eleanor Harvey, representing Canada, was another vegan fencer – who had never won a medal in the sport. The team progressed well, missing out on the podium by the narrowest of margins, losing 33-32 in the bronze medal match. However, Eleanor did make the podium, and her place in history, in the individual competition, making the semi-finals and taking the bronze medal to Canada for the first time. Eleanor has been vegan since the age of 12.

8. Marina Fioravento – Rugby sevens – Brazil

Vegan and nature-loving Marina Fioravento was yet another plant-based Brazilian  competing at Paris 2024. She represented Brazil in the rugby sevens where the team finished 10th overall. Her previous accolades include competing at the Tokyo Olympics and becoming a bronze medallist at the 2023 Pan American Games.

9. Nadia Erostarbe – Surfing – Spain

Surfing has been an Olympic sport since 2020 and this year vegan Nadia Erostarbe had her eyes on the medals. She had some great early results to progress to the quarter finals, where she was edged out by the eventual silver medallist and finished fifth.

10. Anna Henderson – Cycling time trials – Great Britain

Anna Henderson has faced ups and downs in 2024. After breaking her collarbone twice she feared her Olympic dreams may have been over. However, that was not to be the case as she recovered in time (perhaps something to do with a healthy vegan diet?) to compete in the cycling road race and time trials. It was her first Olympic Games and it will be one she’ll never forget as she took the silver medal in the Women’s Road Cycling Time Trial.

Veganism has been a huge positive change in Anna’s life and she hopes more cyclists will make the change soon.

11. Amanda Schott – Weightlifting – Brazil

Amanda Schott is a vegan Brazilian weightlifter, proving that veganism isn’t just for endurance athletes. Her prior accomplishments include medals at the Pan American Championships, South American Games, and World Championships. She has also taken four national titles. At the Paris Olympics she performed well in the women’s 71 kg division, finishing in 8th place.

12. Alexander Megos – Climbing – Germany

It’s the second Olympics for both climbing as a sport and for Alexander Megos from Germany. Alexander has 10 World Cup medals including one gold and five silvers. Unfortunately, at the Olympics this year he didn’t make it to the finals. Alexander recently went vegan for environmental reasons, saying it’s one of the most effective ways to reduce our carbon footprint.

13. Oceania McKenzie – Climbing – Australia

Another vegan climber, this time from Australia, did make the finals. Oceania McKenzie is Australia’s top-ranked sport climber across all disciplines – and she’s only 21 years old! Although for much of the final she held the bronze medal position, she wasn’t able to hang on and finished in fifth place. Still, at such a young age, she’s bound to be back and climbing up onto the podium.

14. Diana Taurasi – Basketball – USA

Diana Taurasi is an American basketball player with a mountain of Olympic medals. Diana made sports history by winning consecutive gold medals with Team USA at the past five Olympics. And now she has a sixth gold medal thanks to a very tight victory (67-66) over France in the Women’s Basketball Final.

Content sourced and adapted, with permission, from Great Vegan Athletes.