Community
Print
Imogen Grant, the Olympic gold medal winner, is training for LA 2028 on a vegan diet.
The plant-based athlete is hoping to compete in open-weight rowing, which will require her to gain weight and increase her power during training.
Read more: Scientist Names Tofu The Single Best Protein For Nutrition, Sustainability, And Affordability
Grant won gold at Paris 2024 in the lightweight double sculls category with her partner Emily Craig. Lightweight rowing, which has now been removed from the Olympics lineup, required competitors to weigh in at no more than 57kg.
Open-weight rowing has no such restrictions, and Grant, who is 5ft 6in, will be competing against athletes who are typically much taller and up to 20kg heavier than she is, as reported by the BBC. To bulk up, Grant has needed to increase her caloric intake significantly. She told the BBC that she now consumes up to 4,000 calories per day during training, and gets the bulk of her protein from tofu, beans, and shakes.
Grant explained that as rowers do so much training, they don’t need to worry too much about what they eat “around the sides,” provided they are getting three good meals per day. She added that, as rowing is an endurance sport, “carbs are king.”
According to the BBC, Grant is wary of presenting her vegan diet as something remarkable. She said, “I never want it to be a really big part of how I perform, because I don’t think that’s really how you convince people that being plant-based or reducing meat and dairy is the way to go forward.” Grant added, “But just consistently showing up and showing that it is possible is really important to me.”
Read more: Can Footballers Really Thrive On A Plant-Based Diet?
‘Eating vegan or reducing meat and dairy consumption is the single biggest personal impact we can make on our emissions’
Outside of her rowing career, Grant is a medical doctor for the NHS and a committed sustainability advocate. She is an ambassador for the Rivers Trust and took part in Veganuary’s 2025 campaign after adopting a plant-based diet in January 2023.
Regarding Veganuary, Grant said, “Eating vegan or reducing meat and dairy consumption is the single biggest personal impact we can make on our emissions. I had been vegan for 18 months leading up to the Paris Olympics and had PBs on the rowing machine and in the gym. Veganuary is a great way to start – that’s how I did!”
PBN runs a sponsored content model. To explore how you can get featured, please email [email protected] or visit everkinddigital.com
