The hunger Games in Paris – athletes’ food reviews from the Olympic Village

Complaints from athletes include bland and insufficient food, and even an egg shortage.

Rebekah Chia

Rebekah Chia

The Straits Times

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Catering firm Sodexo provides an estimated 40,000 meals a day to 15,000 athletes in the Olympic Village. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO/THE STRAITS TIMES

August 2, 2024

PARIS – In one of the most well-known food capitals of the world, food has become one of the hottest topics on social media during the Paris Olympics – though not always in a positive light.

Negative reviews of the food in the Olympic Village have flooded platforms like Instagram and TikTok, with Team USA’s Rachel Glenn and Raven Saunders (athletics), and sport climber Samuel Watson also weighing in.

Complaints from athletes include bland and insufficient food, and even an egg shortage.

The British Olympic team reportedly also flew in a private chef after grouses such as limited food supply and raw meat being served to athletes.

In a video posted on Instagram, Watson said: “Today at the Olympic Village we’re having probably the blandest piece of turkey with some Dijon mustard. The Dijon mustard really adds to the lack of flavour.

“And then we have ourselves some plain Greek yoghurt. It really adds to the plain Greek yoghurt experience in the theme of the food.”

Catering firm Sodexo provides an estimated 40,000 meals a day to 15,000 athletes in the Olympic Village. Games organisers have since increased the amount of eggs and meat available in order to meet the demands of athletes.

Among those posting their reviews of the food is Singaporean swimmer Quah Jing Wen, who did a vlog on TikTok of the three meals she ate in a day – starting with mushroom, scrambled eggs, mozzarella, and bread for breakfast.

In the caption of her post, Quah said: “No there isn’t a food shortage and I haven’t gotten any undercooked food. It’s low-key always lacking salt though.”

She is seen trying a Parisian dish known as a salmon en croute during lunch, adding: “The flavour low-key caught me off guard, and I actually had to sit back and think about it. It did grow on me later though.”

Philippines gymnast Aleah Finnegan said in her food review video on TikTok: “It’s pretty good, like it’s good food. It’s just, probably season it a little bit. Personal preference, that’s me.”

American swimmers Abbey Weitzeil and Phoebe Bacon decided to avoid the crowded dining hall and make their own lunch on the roof of their building.

“Come with us to get creative with our lunch today,” Weitzeil says in their TikTok video. They made cheese sandwiches on an electric griddle with rolls from the dining hall, eggs, ham and cheese.

It is not all hunger Games at the Paris Games though. The chocolate muffin is proving to be a hit and the dessert has received many glowing reviews from athletes.

It is, according to Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen “the single greatest thing about the Olympic Village so far”.

Christiansen, who has been nicknamed ‘the muffin man’, went viral with a string of posts showcasing his love for the muffins. Initially rating them 11 out of 10 in a food review vlog on TikTok, his posts have since featured him taking the muffins to various locations around Paris, hiding them in a drawer in his room, and even being kidnapped by the baked good.

Fellow athletes have joined in the fun. New Zealand swimmer Lewis Clareburt posted a video with Christiansen, captioning it: “I found the official Olympic village muffin man.”

In another post on TikTok, Quah wrote: “When you see the infamous Olympics chocolate muffins but don’t want to steal them from that one Norwegian swimmer.”

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