Many people in the competitive sports world are convinced that eating animals is required for athletic prowess. Athletes are often depicted as heavily muscled, thoughtless carnivores that need massive amounts of meat for success. But it is possible to be an accomplished athlete on a plant-based diet.

It is even possible to reach the highest echelon of amateur athletics, the Olympics, while following a humane and healthy vegetarian lifestyle. Here are Olympians, past and present, who reached the height of their sports while eating a plant-based diet.

Flying Finn
Paavo Nurmi, known as the Flying Finn for his steady swiftness, was a Finnish long distance runner in the early part of last century. He was both a born runner, distinguishing himself early in his military career by his endurance and strength, and a methodic worker who pushed himself relentlessly. He won nine gold medals and three silver in the 1924 and 1928 Olympics.

Murray Rose
Rose was one of the first and most famous athletes to promote veganism. This heroic swimmer from Australia set 15 world records and won six Olympic medals. He claimed that veganism was responsible for him winning gold medals in the 1956 Olympics.

Edwin Moses
Moses is a legendary track and field athlete. He won 107 races over the course of ten years, broke four world records, and received two Olympic gold medals for the 400m hurdles. In addition to being a vegetarian he is a humanitarian, and he advocates for sports to be a tool for social change.

Christopher Campbell
This wrestler from the U.S. won a bronze medal in the 1992 Olympics, becoming one of the oldest athletes to win an Olympic medal. He is also a practicing Zen Buddhist and poet.

Lizzie Armistead
Armistead is a British cyclist who is very outspoken about being vegetarian. She won the silver Olympic medal for the road cycling race in 2012.

Alexey Voyevoda
Voyevoda is a Russian bobsledder with two Olympic medals. He is competing in this years Olympic games in Sochi. He is a strict raw vegetarian, and claims it is this clean lifestyle that is responsible for his success.

Hannah Teter
Teter is also competing in this years winter Olympics in snowboarding, after having won two medals in previous games. She is an advocate for PETA, and speaks out against the Canadian seal massacre. She credits her plant-based diet with renewing her body and upleveling her athletic performance.

These are just a few of the dozens of world champion athletes who are vegetarian. Many of them believe and share that it is their commitment to a clean, healthy, cruelty-free lifestyle that has helped them be so successful. If these Olympians can so greatly benefit from a plant-based lifestyle, perhaps we all can.