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Nutrition & the Olympic Games Village
There are special challenges for the suppliers of food for the athletes at the Olympic Village. Not only do they need to feed the thousands of athletes, there are nearly as many coaches, officials and volunteers. These people will be from over 200 countries, each with their peculiar cultures and food needs. Each athlete wishes to get the best food to help them specifically reach their goals at the Games. The food hall must cater for all of this and more.
The danger for athletes is that all of this wonderful foods from around the world will be a temptation for them to vary from their routines. The selection of food would be mind boggling, especially for athletes with limited food choices back home. It is a great opportunity for them to experience food from other cultures, but they need to wait until after their events before over indulging.
Nowadays the food supplied at the Olympic Village is always of good quality. It is when the athletes stray from the village that they have to be careful about the quality of the food and the drinkability of the water. This is particularly important when in countries like China in 2008 where the food hygiene standards may not be as high as in the US or other western countries.
With so many athletes, and with the current understanding of nutrition and medicine, there will be many athletes who require a specific diet. Not all of them will be able to catered for, though diets such as halal, gluten free, lactose free, nut free and vegetarian (vegan) would be expected to be on the menu.
Below are links to some notes about the Olympic Village food provision from recent Olympic Games.
- 2010 Vancouver, Canada
- 2008 Beijing, China
- 2004 Athens, Greece
- 2000 Sydney, Australia
- 1996 Atlanta, USA
Related Pages
- Nutrition at the Olympics
- about the Olympic Games
Related Products
- Sport Nutrition e-books and other products.
