On vegetarian diets ... Carl Lewis, one of the greatest athletes in history, and a nine-time Olympic Gold Medal winner in extremely demanding sprint track and field events was not only a vegetarian, but a vegan. He was a world record holder in the 100m dash for years and competed successfully till the athletically ripe old age of 36 in events that demanded sheer muscular power. He stood 6-2 and weighed a solid185 pounds. What's more is that he didn't start as a vegetarian, but ate everything through the early part of his great career. But, before he peaked, he switched, giving up even milk and dairy products. To even his surprise, he became much, much better, and never went back to meat. You can listen to him here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=744765316519516434

Edwin Moses, a 400 meter hurdles gold medalist for the US (and again, a world record holder for years) was also a vegetarian. So was American Football Heisman trophy winner Desmond Howard. In the ultimate muscle sports of body building and weighlifting, there are several vegetarians, including former Mr. Universe Bill Pearl and long-time world bench press record holder Bill Pearl.

These are just the athletes in 'power sports', where one could naively argue that protein in meat is needed. In endurance events, in skill sports, there are numerous other world class veg athletes.

The bottom line is that you don't need meat to perform athletically at the highest level. You do need protein, but not in the kidney-destroying, outrageous amounts taken in diets that include large amounts of meat. A solid diet with a mix of lentils and other veg proteins (like that which powered Carl Lewis to 9 gold medals) is fine. Some veg proteins are incomplete in amino acids, but this is irrelevant unless one literally eats ONLY the same food ALL the time. Otherwise, the amino acids missing in one vegetable protein source are complemented by those present in another. Of course, adding a bit of dairy, as in yoghurt, etc., and one is EASILY fine as far as protein.

As to why India is generally sucky in sport ... it isn't about vegetarianism. It's about training facilities, support, early cultivation and motivation of talented athletes. In countries that do well, all of these things are well developed. If India does the same, it should produce more and more world-class athletes ... and if some are veg, they'll clearly be in good company with Carl Lewis, et al. mentioned above.

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