August 5, 2008

What Does a Champion Eat?

Feeding athletes at the 2008 Summer Games

By Jaime Joyce

Imagine a cafeteria.

Kyodo via AP Images A peek at the Olympic dining hall before the athletes arrive

Now imagine the cafeteria packed with thousands of hungry basketball players, sprinters, cyclists and other athletes.

That's the scene at the Olympic Village in Beijing, China. More than 10,000 athletes, from 205 countries, will live in the Village during the 2008 Summer Games. They will eat in its massive dining hall, two huge white tents next to the athletes' residences. The dining hall is open around the clock. Officials expect to feed 9,000 athletes a day.

Food is serious business at the Games. For athletes, good nutrition is especially important. But in recent years, China has had a problem with food and product safety. Dangerous chemicals have been found in meat and vegetables. Tainted food can make people sick. Some athletes also fear that tainted food could cause them to test positive for steroids, banned drugs that some athletes have used to increase strength and build muscle. Athletes who test positive for steroid use cannot participate in the Games.

Feeding Team U.S.A.

The United States Olympic Committee "has absolutely no concerns regarding food safety in the Athletes' Village," said spokesperson Nicole Saunches, in an e-mail message to TIME For Kids. "We believe that not only will the food that is served in the Athletes' Village meet the highest standards...it will very likely be the best food served at any Olympic Games."

The 600 U.S. athletes at the 2008 Games will eat most of their meals in the Olympic Village. But the 600 coaches, doctors and other support staff traveling with the team cannot eat in the Village. Instead, they will eat at a U.S. training center in Beijing.

The USOC has had thousands of pounds of food shipped to China. Tyson Foods sent 25,000 pounds of chicken, beef and pork. The Coca-Cola Company supplied bottled water. Kelloggs sent Frosted Flakes cereal and Nutrigrain breakfast bars. But Saunches says that most of the food served at the center will come from Chinese vendors.

Playing It Safe

The Chinese government says athletes have no need to worry. They have taken steps to make sure it's safe to eat at the Games. Special farms are growing fruits and vegetables. Tracking devices are following meat and fish from farm to plate. A mobile food testing lab is stationed outside the dining hall.

"We can guarantee the food safety during the Olympic Games," said Tang Yunhua, a spokesperson for the Beijing Municipal Office for Food Safety. "And the standards for Olympic food safety are much more strict than international standards. So all the (groups) can enjoy the food provided at the Olympic Games."

The Global Training Table

Former gymnast Shannon Miller has won seven Olympic medals. Two of them are gold. Today, she teaches kids how to stay fit through diet and exercise.

"As an athlete, you're always concerned about what you're putting in your body," Miller told TFK. While at the Olympics, athletes "want to keep everything as similar as possible" to what they're used to eating at home, Miller says. It's all part of training for top performance.

Miller was 15 when she went to Barcelona, Spain, for the 1992 Summer Games. The food at the Athletes' Village "was just amazing," she says. "There were so many new foods that I had never seen before."

The menu at the 2008 Games has an international flavor. Chinese dishes like diced chicken with peanuts are served. So is borscht, a beet soup popular in Russia and Ukraine. Olympic chefs recommend the soup for wrestlers and weight lifters. Fried rice balls with egg yolk are good for swimmers, according to the official website of the 2008 Games.

"The Olympics is a sporting event that brings the whole world together," says Miller. "You can see that by the food."

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