Vegan diet can fuel Cheavon’s Olympic dream
OLYMPIC hopeful Cheavon Clarke plans to punch his way to Tokyo powered by plants.
The 30-year-old heavyweight was born and raised in Jamaica – the land of jerk chicken – before moving to England aged 10.
He boxed for the Caribbean island at the 2014 Commonwealth Games before switching his allegiance to his adopted homeland.
And now, prompted by questionable farming and a Netflix documentary, vegan Clarke wants to prove that the future is green.
“Growing up in
Jamaica, we used to have our own produce: chicken, cows, goats, bees, honey, all of that,” he said. “And, without going into detail, I saw my grandfather handling business.
“At GB Boxing I used to have chicken every single day, but when I was buying one, the breast had a needle hole in it and there was a white vein hanging out.
“It wasn’t supposed to look like that and after it happened three or four times I said I was done with chicken.
“The boys said I’d never stop eating it but I watched The Game
Changers and I was done. I literally stopped eating chicken and meat.
“In Jamaica, the
Rastafarian community doesn’t eat meat, they’re
basically vegan and they live off the land so it was easy for me.
“You season your food the same way, people get confused with seasoning and what meat tastes like. If you cook meat without seasoning it you won’t like it.
“The nutritionist has spoken to me and made his point but I haven’t felt any difference in my performance.”
Clarke was forced to put his Olympic dream on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic and only returned to action in February.
He now has his sights set on the final European qualifier in Paris in June ahead of the rearranged Games in late summer.
Clarke said: “It’s been a challenge but you take on the challenge, you level up and do what you have to do.
“The goal is to win an Olympic gold medal and the journey is just characterbuilding.”