Vegan speedskater takes two golds and top spot

Vegan speedskater, Santos-Griswold, snatches two golds and reclaims top ranking

Vegan short track speedskater, Kristen Santos-Griswold, zoomed to a double victory at the ISU Short Track World Tour in Seoul this past December.

In the concluding Sunday of the women’s Crystal Globe tournament, Kristen was competing in the 1500 and 500 metres. She won the 1500 metres comfortably and, just 90 minutes later, edged her way to first place in the 500 metres, going two-for-two. But Kristen’s victory was far from a done deal.

Going into the final day of the tournament, Kristen was ranked in fifth place, after a disappointing fourth place in the 1000 metre race on Saturday left her 162 points behind the leader. However, the two wins on Sunday catapulted her up the world rankings – back to world number one.

The American skater, nicknamed the USA Eagle, is no stranger to success on the ice. Last year she won six world cup golds and a world championship. She told the International Skating Union:

“Last year was obviously a really amazing year for me and it was a little bit like I could get out in front and leave some space and take advantage of that but this year, everyone has been right there. That’s something that I have had to try wrap my head around quite a bit.”

She went on to say that she loves the 500 metres because “you don’t have to think about it, you just go out there and go.”

Kristen has been vegan since 2018, after being a long-term vegetarian. Her vegan diet clearly gives her all the explosive energy and power she needs to perform at an elite level. She told Great Vegan Athletes:

“I’ve always loved animals so much and don’t want to contribute to anything that could be harmful to them. When I switched to a fully plant-based diet, I also began feeling just overall so much better and began skating better too.”

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