To the average viewer, this year’s Wimbledon Finals matchup was nothing shocking, with two distinctly different players vying for the Cup, but the two finalists share one unique characteristic: They both follow vegan diets. Defying claims that plant-based diets lack for protein or hinder athletic performance, vegan athletes worldwide have proved otherwise, including some of the most accomplished competitors in the world. The latest to prove the naysayers wrong: Vegan runner Mike Fremont, who turned 100 years old in February and celebrated with a run around Vero Beach in Florida.
Fremont adopted a vegan diet at the age of 69 after receiving a daunting cancer diagnosis. He turned down what his doctors told him was life-saving surgery in favor of switching to a whole food plant-based diet. Now, Fremont, the oldest known vegan runner, holds the marathon distance world records for single-year age groups of 88 and 90.
“I said no, I was going on a diet!” Fremont told Great Vegan Athletes. “In two and a quarter years the tumor began to bleed, and I was operated upon. The surgeon looked for metastasis in 35 places and found zero. In other words, my macrobiotic diet, [which became] a vegan diet, [which became] a whole-foods plant-based diet, killed the metastases!”
This week, Fremont joined the legendary plant-based athlete, author and podcaster Rich Roll to discuss his prolonged competitive career and unwavering strength and endurance. Fremont claimed that the past…
