You’ve probably heard by now that last week, the Women’s US Soccer team blasted their way to a 4th world championship with a 13-0 win over Thailand.  While skill and a rigorous training schedule, plus a lot of determination, have a lot to do with it, Alex Morgan, co-captain of the team, has another advantage – she’s vegan!

In a recent interview with Time, Morgan revealed that switching to a vegan diet has been key to her success on the field. She first adopted a vegan diet, “because it didn’t feel fair to have a dog I adore, and yet eat meat all the time,” she told Reuters. She soon discovered that eating a plant-based diet improved her energy during practice and games. On World Vegan Day, she announced on Twitter that she’d never felt better after eating vegan for a year.

Morgan joins many other athletes in discovering the vegan advantage.  In sports as wide ranging as football, basketball, tennis and weight lifting, several top sports stars freely acknowledge the advantage that going vegan has given them.  See our article on strength and endurance for more examples.