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At the heart of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games\u2019 experience is the food, which, for high-performance athletes, is not only a way of discovering the rich Italian cuisine but also provides fuel for the competition. <\/p>\n
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Every day, more than 10,000 meals are prepared across the different villages and facilities. <\/p>\n
According to the organisation of the games, in the Milan Olympic Village alone, the kitchens serve around 3,000 eggs and approximately 450 kilograms of pasta daily. <\/p>\n
In the 24-hour canteens, athletes can find balanced meals to help fight jet lag and help with training, high-protein diets for cross-country skiiers, lighter ones for bobsleighers, and options for vegans, celiacs, and religious traditions, according to the Italian Minstry for Infrastructure and Transport.<\/p>\n
“Food as energy, but also as a universal language and a tool for inclusion: in villages like the one in Cortina, everything revolves around one principle,\u201d reads a press release from the Ministry. <\/p>\n
\u201cThose arriving from the other side of the world will be able to eat as if they were at home, without compromising their preparation or recovery,\u201d it added. <\/p>\n
Routine is vital<\/p>\n
Nutrition is key for professional athletes, even more so during intense periods of activity such as competing in the Olympic Games. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople don\u2019t realise how much their body needs,\u201d Olivia Morgan, dietitian and sports nutrition expert at Mass General Brigham in Boston, told Euronews Health. <\/p>\n
She stressed that the core to athlete nutrition is to make sure the energy intake matches the demands of their performance, especially during intense periods. <\/p>\n
Morgan, who has experience working with Olympic athletes, noted the importance of making sure that nutrition still fits amid the travel, the new environment, the change in routine, and heightened emotions.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking sure, as always, that we’re hitting our intervals throughout the day and keeping to things that we know we enjoy and that work really well for our body and enjoying the really fun things afterwards,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
Special characteristics of winter sports<\/p>\n
These days in Italy, we can witness sports from nordic skiing, to figure skating and biathlon. Winter sports have their own specificities and demands, which is the same as when it comes to food. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we’re looking at more of the Nordic sports, the demands of the training, a lot of times, exceed potentially competition times\u201d, Kelly Drager, lead performance dietitian at the Canada Sport Institute Alberta, working with the country\u2019s Olympic athletes, told Euronews Health.<\/p>\n
She added that winter athletes often train voluminously and have very intense periods during the summer months as preparation. <\/p>\n
Even with the special circumstances under which winter athletes compete, Drager said, things are changing and weather, even in winter is less and less extreme. <\/p>\n
Another aspect to consider for winter athletes is that they are usually travelling and competing during the peak of respiratory viruses such as influenza.<\/p>\n
Carbs, carbs, carbs<\/p>\n
Italy is world-renowned for its pasta and pizza, which, during the games, may be athletes\u2019 closest allies. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think protein has been a major focus in society right now, but really, for athletes, carbohydrates are kind of the king,\u201d Morgan said. <\/p>\n
According to her, many have the misconception that protein is more important for athletes than carbohydrates, and emphasise it more in their diet. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens is we just get a ton of protein and not enough carbs, we’re not really able to utilize all of that protein for its designated purpose\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n
Italian style is at the heart of the menus, the organisers have said, with pasta and pizza at the center of the carbohydrate stations. <\/p>\n
Together with local cold cuts, cheeses, fruits, and desserts, they aim to give the athletes an \u201cauthentic taste of Italy.\u201d <\/p>\n
The importance of \u201cboring balance\u201d<\/p>\n
For Morgan, at the core of good nutrition are the basics: five pieces of fruit or vegetables a day, balanced meals, and the occasional cheeky treat \u2013 all while maintaining a regular schedule. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to eat balanced meals consistently throughout the day, and it’s boring nutrition; nobody wants to listen to it. They want to follow a fancy diet. They want to take a fancy supplement. But the real roots of nutrition are in that boring balance,\u201d Morgan added. <\/p>\n
She explained that, especially for athletes, who demand so much from their bodies, even the smallest misses in these basics tend to have bigger consequences. <\/p>\n
Yet, food is not only fuel, nutrition experts warn. There has to be enjoyment, satisfaction, and a good relationship with the body. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe body is not just a machine and food is just not a means to an end\u201d, Drager said, adding that at her work in Canada, individual preferences and cultural variances also play a key role in nutrition. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the heart of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games\u2019 experience is the food, which, for high-performance athletes, is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[7425,97,32809,113109,269,9444],"class_list":{"0":"post-468552","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-athletes","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-healthy-diet","11":"tag-milano-cortina-2026","12":"tag-nutrition","13":"tag-nutritional-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}