Photo: Flickerd via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped. This adapted image is also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Erin Phillips has won her second AFLW premiership and her second Grand Final best-on-ground medal, as Adelaide thrashed Carlton 10.3 (63) to 2.6 (18) at Adelaide Oval on Sunday. The crowd of 53,034 is a record for a women's Australian rules match.
The 33-year-old set the tone with the first two center clearances of the game and had 18 disposals, 10 contested possessions, three marks and two goals before her afternoon ended in the third quarter. She went down clutching her left knee and was stretchered off in tears to a standing ovation from both teams. She had torn her ACL, and she still edged team-mate Anne Hatchard by a single vote for the medal.
Teammates Chelsea Randall and Ebony Marinoff helped her onto the stage to collect it, with the crowd chanting her name.
It's an ACL, something I have done before in my other leg. This was supposed to be the good leg. It's pretty emotional. It's an absolute dream come true ... to play in front of this crowd, it means so much.
Phillips has been here before. She also won best on ground in Adelaide's 2017 flag, and she's a dual Olympian and two-time WNBA champion from her basketball career. She credits giving up animal products for her energy, telling VegKit:
Since I gave up meat, dairy products and a lot of processed sugars, my energy levels have increased significantly because my body doesn't waste energy burning these types of food, and it allows me to sleep much better at night.
She joins a growing list of plant-powered athletes in contact sport, from the 252lb rugby international who went vegan after a YouTube video to the Tennessee Titans players who went plant-based last year. In January, plant-based fencer Vivian Kong made history in Havana.
Get well soon, Erin. No meat, no problem.