Kendrick Farris is the only male weightlifter competing for team U.S.A. at the Rio Olympics. And guess what? He’s 100% vegan!
This 30-year old athlete from Shreveport, Louisiana, went vegan in 2014. Even though he had already spent six years into his career as a non-vegan, he has been performing well following his new diet. Since then, Farris has progressed and moved up one weight class and has also set a weightlifting record for America by lifting over 800 pounds at the trials for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Farris explained to KTBS that the reason why he went vegan was to “fuel” his training.
“I really don’t know what happened to me,” Farris told the news station. “My son was born almost two years ago, he was born in September 2014 and something happened where I was like, ‘I’m just seeing the whole thing.’ So I’m like, ‘I need to do something different.’ Like how do you get back to what is the most purest form of our life, our being and it started with the food.”
On the other hand, Farris’ wife, Katrina Farris, told Huffington Post that she was skeptical of his diet at first. Although, she believes that, “two years later, I think it’s made him better.”
However, even though Farris is not the only vegan athlete around, it doesn’t mean that he wasn’t criticised for this dietary change.
“I remember when I first told my wife, she laughed at me because she didn’t think I was serious,” Farris told KTBS. “So I was like, ‘Nah, I’m serious.’ I’m not eating any more of this, that and the third and I’ve just been sticking to it ever since.”
However, anyone who doubts Farris’ abilities can be proved wrong.
Farris placed 8th in the 2008 Olympics and then fell into 10th place in the exact same class in 2012 in London.
Although, now following a vegan lifestyle, Farris has set an American record for weightlifting, which is a huge accomplishment not only for America, but for vegans as well. It shows us that those who follow the plant-based diet are absolutely not weak, but instead “plant-strong.”
In addition, Farris managed to place 1st at the Pan-American Championships by lifting 364-kg to secure his place as the only male weightlifter representing America at the 2016 Olympics.
Despite his success, Farris is still happy that he placed 3rd in the men’s 94-kg final, after lifting 357-kg. Even though people were on their feet, waiting to see if he places 1st or not, his attitude still makes him a winner.
Prior to placing third, he stated “I mean, I’m not going to change, I’ll feel the same way I feel at this moment right now. Just to win it… I guess to have it, you can be like, ‘Well, that’s a lot of hard work and you were able to achieve one of your goals.’ Is it a goal of mine to medal? It is, but at the end of the day, I feel like I already won.”
While being a vegan and representing America is definitely a huge accomplishment, Farris’ attitude made all the difference in his performance.
#olympics #veganathletes
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