20-year vegan dominates European and World Duathlon Championships with back-to-back wins

Lisa Gawthorne scooped another gold just six weeks after she won the European Duathlon Championships in Venice.

Vegan athlete Lisa Gawthorne representing the Great Britain duathlon team has recently achieved incredible success in the multisport category, winning Gold in the World Championships in Ibiza last week.

This achievement comes just six weeks after she won the European Duathlon Championships in Venice.

Aside from her spectacular performance, Gawthorne achieved another important milestone this year, and that is of completing 20 years as a vegan.

In her own words, Gawthorne described the World Championship race as “tough from start to finish,” with temperatures reaching 22°C and a muggy atmosphere making every step and pedal feel more difficult. Despite these challenges, she managed to keep a steady pace during the first run, conserving energy for the bike portion of the race.

While the bike leg proved to be a significant challenge, the final run was even more difficult, but Gawthorne kept a balanced pace without pushing herself too hard.

Taking to Instagram to recount her race to the finish line, she wrote: “Ran through the finish line in a daze, unsure of where I had finished then heard them call my name for the gold medal position!!!! “

She went through a similar experience in Venice earlier.  Explaining why winning The European circuit was important for her, she said: “When I sprinted over the line to hear my name called out as the category winner, it was just amazing, I was very emotional. I’ve put in so much hard work and graft and it just felt so rewarding that it had all paid off to be crowned European Champion. ”

Attributing a major chunk of her success to her vegan lifestyle, she added: “It’s even more special because this year I am celebrating my 20th veganniversary. I am vegan for the animals but there are huge health and performance benefits in sport that have without a doubt played a significant part in my athletic journey. I recover super-fast, my sleep is amazing and my digestion is on point – which is very important in sport and fitness as keeping healthy is essential when you have to put in hard training sessions.”

Gawthorne and veganism

In a bid to further her dedication to veganism, Gawthorne runs a vegan food brand company called Bravura Foods and is also the author of the vegan fitness book Gone in 60 Minutes.

Her success and passion have also influenced many of her teammates, to transition to a vegan diet: “I am so passionate about supporting the movement and spreading positivity and well-informed knowledge with others that may be vegan-curious.

“Over the years I have had a lot of teammates that have transitioned to vegan diets and they’ve told me I was a major influence – that means so much to me.” 

Plant-based athletes

Gawthorne is one of many successful vegan athletes proving to the world that a plant-based diet is sufficient for achieving peak athletic performance.

While she smashed two championships, vegan ultra-runner Austin Meyer won the Zion Ultra 100km (62 miles) race on 15 April. He completed the race in just over 10 hours.

The race took place in Zion National Park, Utah, amid massive sandstone cliffs. The competition is considered challenging and only skilled ultra-runners who have already completed a half-ultramarathon are eligible to compete.

Other prominent sportspersons flying the plant–based flag include Lewis Hamilton, Kylie Irving, Fiona Oakes and many more from bodybuilders to tennis players, footballers and almost every sport in between.

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