Vegan Wins Gold Medal at World Surfing Games

Surfer and outspoken vegan Tia Blanco recently won her second gold medal at the 2016 International Surfing Association (ISA) World Surfing Games held in Costa Rica. The ISA successfully petitioned the Olympic Committee to include surfing as a sport for the first time ever in the summer Olympic games to be held in Tokyo, Japan in 2020. While Blanco’s participation in the Olympics will be determined during qualifying events in 2019, her recent win—along with her 2015 gold medal—makes her a frontrunner to represent Team USA. Blanco has used her fame to promote vegan company Beyond Meat as part of their athlete-packed campaign and has now partnered with protein powder brand VeganSmart to create her own flavor as part of the line. “They make the best-tasting protein powder out there,” Blanco said, “and I have been using it with my smoothies for several years. I look forward to collaborating on my own signature flavor.”