Vegan powerhouses excel at Arnold Sports Festival

Vegan strength athletes put in a strong showing at the Arnold Sports Festival

The Arnold Sports Festival is known as the event of the year for strength athletes, and many spend years hoping to qualify. This year, seven mighty vegans made the cut and performed against the world’s best in Columbus, Ohio in the United States.

‘Vegan Hercules’ Bradie Crandall continued his fantastic season and relished the competition of the world’s strongest men. He was disappointed to miss a 300 lb (136 kg) log he’s consistently nailed in training, but he excelled in the loading. Bradie was the first in his weight class to finish, which helped secure a mid table placing overall.

Melissa Busta was much anticipated and did not disappoint. She made the cut after a solid day one and put in some solid overhead pressing to grasp sixth overall in the final.

Multiple French champion Angelina Berva secured overall second with a great all-round performance, including awesome performances in the log, sandbag and trap bar.

Esther Noemi made her lightweight debut at the event. She enjoyed every minute as she came within 2.5 points of qualifying for the day two final.

Ric Carroll also qualified and continued his run of determined and powerful performances.

A specialist category saw Wendi Wentzell compete in the Firefighter category. Wendi qualified as a veteran but competed in the Open category and still made seventh place in the final. She was also thrilled to achieve a 450 lb (204 kg) deadlift.

Another lighter lady, Veronique Cormier returned to the Arnold and was particularly pleased with joint third in log and a strong performance in the deadlift for reps event. She made the final and finished sixth, which qualifies her for next year.

These performances at the pinnacle of the sports showed the quality of these athletes. Strongman remains the definitive strength sport and while some still claim meat is needed to build strength, these seven are among the many proving that isn’t true.

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