On this day in vegan history · May 22, 1987
Novak Djokovic Is Born in Belgrade
The kid raised on his family's bread and red meat would spend his career winning majors by cutting almost all of it out.
The facts
- Born
- May 22, 1987, in Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
- Diet turning point
- Diagnosed with gluten intolerance in 2010; moved to a mostly plant-based diet with occasional fish
- Restaurant
- Co-founded Eqvita, a plant-based restaurant in Monte Carlo, in 2016; it closed in 2019
Novak Djokovic was born on May 22, 1987, in Belgrade, then part of SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia. He grew up eating the cuisine of his family's restaurant business, heavy on bread and red meat, and for years on tour he was known for mid-match fades and breathing trouble. In 2010 a nutritionist diagnosed him with a gluten intolerance, and Djokovic cut gluten and most animal products soon after, crediting the change for steadier energy on court. In 2016 he and his wife Jelena opened Eqvita, a plant-based restaurant in Monte Carlo, which stayed open until 2019. He still eats fish now and then, so he describes himself as plant-based rather than strictly vegan.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
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I do eat fish occasionally, but other than that it's all plant-based, organic living foods.
Novak Djokovic, discussing his diet and Eqvita, 2016
Source: Forbes
Why it still matters
A top athlete crediting most of his success to eating mostly plants, on performance grounds alone, is a case that's hard for a skeptic to dismiss as sentiment.
Sources
This history is still being written.
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