Vegan Bodybuilder is Pro Figure World Champion

Maddie McConnell wins Pro Figure WNBF World Championships.

Vegan natural bodybuilder Maddie McConnell built on her victory at the OCB Yorton Cup Pro World Championships in November by taking the top spot at the 2024 World Natural Bodybuilding Federation (WNBF) World Championships, held in Boston.

Maddie took home first place in the Women’s Pro Figure category. This is the second time she has held the title of Figure World Champion after a previous win in 2022, which she acknowledged as her “greatest achievement.” She told Great Vegan Athletes:

“My favourite achievements in my sport were my NPC Oregon State Champion and WNBF World Champion wins. I love proving to others that you can still be a highly competitive athlete and achieve a winning physique without the use of drugs [ie steroids] or animal products.”

Maddie has had an incredible season of competition, earning six first places and one second place.

She has been vegan since 2019, when she met fellow vegan bodybuilder Zachary Belknap:

“When I first met Zachary Belknap, he had been vegan for several years and he had muscle, lots of it actually. I was so intrigued! How could a bodybuilder be plant-based? How did he get his protein? What made him pursue a vegan lifestyle? When he explained his rationale for going plant based, it sounded logical. I then began doing my own research.”

Now, just as Zachary was for her, Maddie, a member of the Vegan Strong Plantbuilt team, has become an inspiration for many other vegan-curious athletes.

Alongside Maddie, another vegan bodybuilder, Maayan Eliasi was also competing. Maayan finished fifth in the Pro Masters Figure competition and was pleased with the improvements she’d made since 2022. Vegan Amanda Adeline was also competing and took fifth place in the tall class of the Bikini competition.

All content sourced and adapted, with permission, from Great Vegan Athletes.