Boxed mac and cheese, croissants and energy chews: How 4 Team USA athletes are fueling up for the 2024 Paris Olympics
You’ve probably heard the slogan "Breakfast of Champions." But for elite athletes, there’s a whole lot more to consider than a bowl of Wheaties when it comes to fueling up to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
From morning to night, athletes are focused on hitting nutrient goals to optimize their strength, energy and endurance for a medal-worthy performance. And they put plans in place to make sure international travel and Olympic Village restaurant challenges don’t get in the way of that.
After all, you do have to eat like an Olympian to perform like one. Here’s a look into how some of Team USA is doing just that.
Sunny Choi, breaking
It’s the olympic debut of breaking, and Choi isn’t leaving anything up to chance, or to the executive chef of the athletes village, Charles Guilloy.
“To be honest, I have a lot of dietary preferences when I'm training and some restrictions as well. So I always struggle to eat almost anywhere that I go. I'm always like mentally prepared for traveling,” she tells Yahoo Life.
What she packed: “I'll go and buy hard-boiled eggs in a package, because they're high protein and easy to just snack on whenever I need them. And then I'll get a pack of smoked salmon or some tuna and some crackers. I always have little packets of oats,” says Choi. She also travels with supplements and protein powders in case she’s low on her protein goal. “I’m actually a pescetarian, so I don't have too many really high-protein sources.”
Pregame meal: “Flipping on a full stomach is like getting on a roller coaster on a full stomach. Those are things you just don’t really do,” she says, noting that she’ll leave “quite a gap” between a meal and any of the rounds she’s competing in.
Her vice: “I have a sweet tooth, and that does not go away when I’m training,” says Choi, who teamed up with the Incredible Egg to create a high-protein custard to satisfy those cravings. “If you told me that to go to the Olympics I’d have to give up sweets entirely, I might have said no.”
Megumi Field, artistic swimming
The 18-year-old just graduated high school and is gearing up for swimming and studying at Stanford University. Before hitting campus, she’s heading to Paris and nailing her nutrition.
“I've been experimenting a lot,” Field tells Yahoo Life about her meal plan for training and competing. “For three months I’d literally [eat] the same things, and then I would evaluate how it worked for me.” She might adjust a meal or ingredient for the following months to make sure she’s feeling her best with the routine.
For the Games, she’s landed on yogurt bowls, chicken with rice or a salad and a whole lot of snacks.
What she packed: Her favorite snacks are Bobo’s oat bars, That’s It fruit bars and Purely Elizabeth granola. “We like to eat a lot of fast-digesting carbs because the protein can feel really heavy, and since our bodies are tired, it can take a long time to digest,” she says of herself and her teammates.
Pregame meal: “If we’re competing at 8 p.m. [Paris time], I’d say the last time I’d probably eat [a meal] is like 2 p.m.,” she says, noting that she’d grab a snack some time in between. “I try to have at least four hours before I compete where I don’t really eat much.”
Her vice: What she’s most looking forward to while competing abroad is eating a croissant, “because I really want a French croissant,” she says.
Nick Itkin, fencing
Even as a top-ranked foil fencer, nerves can get between Itkin and a hearty breakfast. “I find it pretty hard to eat a lot in the morning,” he tells Yahoo Life. But he certainly makes up for it throughout the day.
What he packed: While you likely can’t catch him without snack bars and fruit, Itkin also promises to have supplements nearby. “Sometimes just food isn't enough if I'm training super hard. So I'll take all the extra vitamins to make sure that I'm healthy and keeping up with my body,” he says. “And a lot of electrolytes.”
Pregame meal: “My goal is to eat a lot of carbs the day before and the day of,” he says. And unlike other athletes, Itkin says he can keep snacking as he competes.
His vice: “Energy chews,” he says. “That’s the main thing I’m [having] when I’m fencing.”
Evy Leibfarth, canoe/kayak
As per her sport, and the three events she qualified to compete in, Leibfarth is good at going with the flow.
“I don't really have a set [meal] plan that I follow. I have set goals for how much protein I need each day. And I kind of have a good picture in my head of what I need to be fueling my body,” she tells Yahoo Life. “I don't do anything special or change anything for races.”
What she packed: “I actually usually bring boxed mac and cheese with me, which obviously is not like a good performance food,” she says. “It's just one of those comfort foods for if I'm really struggling with the food [at competitions]. But that's probably the only thing that I pack with me. The rest, I just find wherever I am.”
Pregame meal: Although she’s not picky about her food, she still likes to vet a meal before a big competition. “I kind of test things out before I eat them on a race day. I see how it [affects] me in training first,” she says, noting that something simple with protein is her go-to.
Her vice: Eating out. “When I'm traveling, I like to spend the first couple of days of the training camp finding restaurants that I like,” she says.
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