Double victory for vegan powerhouses
British natural strongman Tom Butts and France’s Angeline Berva were both competing at the Pro Strongman League European Championships, held in Carlisle, England in March.
Tom Butts has made a powerful impact in the u90 kg category of the sport, winning the Natural Strongman World Championships three times and this year’s Britain’s Strongest Man. He has been described as “arguably the greatest natural u90 strongman of all time” and recently stepped up to the u105 kg category.
The strongman event saw competitors battle it out across five events to become European champion. With three wins out of the five events (including a joint first place), Tom claimed a convincing win.
“Finishing top 3 in each event was a big win for me. Probably my most complete competition performance to date, and definitely my biggest win in terms of the calibre of athletes I was facing and the difficulty of the category itself.”
Meanwhile, Angeline Berva was competing in the women’s U82 kg category. She faced five events – and won all five for a clean sweep, an unquestionable win and claiming the title of European Champion. After the competition, she said:
“This title means so much to me. It’s truly the culmination of so many things. I made choices, life choices, I decided to live for strongman, and today I know why I did it, because I was made for it, because I love this sport, because I can’t find the feelings I feel during a competition anywhere else. I saw this trophy in the hands of the best. This trophy that I dreamed of so much, and finally today, I have one too.”
Angeline has been vegan since the age of 17 when she learned enough about the cruelty in the animal agriculture industry to make the change to a more compassionate diet. Now, Angeline eats tofu, seitan, tempeh and legumes to ensure she gets her protein and builds strength.
Tom has been vegan since 2020 and was also motivated to avoid contributing to animal cruelty. Averaging 50g per meal for four meals a day, he eats a lot of carbs too. “Typically I’ll have an oat shake for breakfast before training. This includes soya milk, peanut butter, oats and a bit of protein powder.”
The double victory for these remarkable vegans demonstrates the power of plants!
Content sourced and adapted, with permission, from Great Vegan Athletes.
About the author
Nicholas Hallows
Nicholas has been vegan since the early 2000s and worked for Viva! between 2017 and 2020 as a Senior Administrator and Web Content Assistant. He is a qualified teacher, specialising in Language and Literacy, and an accredited Proofreader and Editor. He is now a freelance writer covering topics including veganism, mindfulness and minimalism.
