Top 5 Eco Athletes in the World
Worldwide News – On June 4, 2010 Planet Green’s Planet 100 announced the “Top 5 Eco Athletes” in the world. Cycling champion Lance Armstrong trades two green wheels for four, professional snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler campaigns to “save the snow,” and Ovie Mughelli from the Atlanta Falcons is the only football player to make this list.
Planet 100 counts down the top five eco-athletes. Planet Green’s Countdown video link is here.
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# 5: Lance Armstrong
This week, seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong became the first person in America to own the all-electric Nissan Leaf. Excited by the new clean, green technology, Armstrong was happy to represent the all-electric car that can go 100 miles on a single charge. Nissan’s use of celebrity pedal power may have paid off—with all 13,000 production vehicles already sold out. |
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# 4: Yao Ming
In at number four, at 7 foot 6 inches, Shanghai-born NBA star Yao Ming is a predator on the court and when it comes to protecting the environment. The Houston Rockets center and Shanghai Sharks owner teamed up with WildAid to urge China to say no to shark fin soup by appearing in a television commercial to shame the rich and stop the overfishing of these endangered species. |
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# 3: Gretchen Bleiler
Professional snowboarder and 2006 Olympic silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler clearly wants the snow to stick around. The 29-year-old works with the Climate Project, the NRDC, the Aspen Snowmass Save Snow campaign and StopGlobalWarming.org—and has even designed a 100-percent recycled polyester snowboarding suit for Oakley. |
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# 2: Ovie Mughelli - appearing at Better Living Show in March
Atlanta Falcons fullback and eco athlete Ovie Mughelli is helping Southern youth tackle green issues.
The Ovie Mughelli Foundation provides football training camps to underprivileged kids in Charleston and Atlanta. But once in the camp, Mughelli serves up a dose of eco-education with talks and activities like recycling in a gridiron. www.OvieMughelliFoundation.org |
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# 1: Leilani Munter
At number one, biology graduate turned race car driver Leilani Munter is on a mission to ensure every race car uses clean, renewable biofuels and every race track has a recycling program. A self-described “vegetarian hippie chick,” Munter uses her celebrity status to inspire race car fans to make a difference. She is focused on getting the 135 million Indy and NASCAR fans to recycle and use efficient bulbs—small actions that add up to big changes. |
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