Athletes living in the Olympic Village have lamented they aren’t getting the tasty French cuisine they might have expected in Paris, with many taking to TikTok to review the underwhelming dining-hall food —though some silver linings, like the chocolate muffins, have gone viral.
Key Facts
- Rachel Glenn, an American high jumper and 400m hurdler, posted a TikTok video of herself eating pasta in the Olympic Village dining hall set to an audio that says: “Help me.”
- American Raven Saunders, who competes in shot put and discus, posted a TikTok in the dining hall set to an audio that says, “You disappointed me,” while she holds up a piece of food—and commenters can’t figure out what that food is.
- Emelia Chatfield, a Haitian track and field athlete, posted a TikTok video giving the dining-hall food a 0/10 rating, calling it “disgusting,” but admitting it can be a 2/10 “on some days.”
- In a more mixed review, Singaporean swimmer Quah Jing Wen said the flavour of some of the food, particularly a French salmon Wellington dish, “caught her off guard,” but eventually grew on her—though she said the food always lacked salt.
- Filipino gymnast Aleah Finnegan similarly said the food was not bad, but was not seasoned enough.
- Australian gold medal-winning swimmer James Magnussen said the Games’ vegan-first food policy had contributed to the lack of records being set in the pool.
Key Background
The food offered to the athletes in the Olympic Village, managed by French company Sodexo Live, has stirred controversy following a greater emphasis on locally sourced, plant-based and climate-friendly options. The food options angered some federations, including Great Britain.
The British Olympic Association chief executive Andy Anson said the food options were “not adequate,” citing the lack of eggs and meats like chicken, while accusing the dining hall of serving athletes raw meat. Anson said the British team hired another chef to accommodate athletes who didn’t want to eat in the dining halls. Paris Olympics CEO Etienne Thobois said earlier this week the organisers have “had to make some adjustments,” including a “reinforcement in animal proteins” and eggs to meet the demands of athletes.
Chief Critics
During a press conference just minutes after the U.S. women’s gymnastics team won gold, the athletes criticised the dining hall offerings after a reporter asked if they were enjoying the French cuisine. “Here’s the thing. I don’t think we’re having proper French cuisine in the village like you guys might be eating because you’re outside the village,” Simone Biles told reporters.
Hezly Rivera, the youngest member of the gymnastics team, said: “I don’t think it’s very good, at least what we’re having in the dining hall.” One British athlete, who spoke anonymously to British newspaper The Times, said the “food is a challenge at the moment,” stating the dining halls are more chaotic and less organized than they were at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Contra
Athletes have praised one item from the dining hall in particular—the chocolate muffins. Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen has been so enamoured with the chocolate muffins that he has posted 12 TikTok videos about them over the past week.
In a review of all the meals he’s had in the Olympic village, the muffin came out on top—he gave it a score of 11/10. In another video, he called the muffin the “single greatest thing about the Olympic Village,” and he garnered more than one million likes on a video he made with his teammate in the dining hall, who tells Christiansen: “I feel like you’re just here for the chocolate muffin.” Christiansen documented his increasingly dramatic relationship with the muffins: In one video, he is caught eating a muffin in bed, and in another video, he offers an apology to the muffin for the “really passionate” relationship they’ve had. U.S. climber Colin Duffy also posted a TikTok praising the chocolate muffin.
One TikTok user, who is not an athlete but says she works at the Olympics, posted a video stating she’s “looking for the chocolate muffins at the Olympics but I’m pretty sure that Norwegian swimmer stole them all.” “You’ll never find them,” Christiansen commented.
Big Number
40,000. That’s how many meals caterers at the Olympic Village are serving per day, the Washington Post reported.
Tangent
Other aspects of life in the Olympic Village have garnered attention on social media—including the cramped living conditions. U.S. tennis player Coco Gauff lamented how she and nine other women share two bathrooms in a video on TikTok. The small cardboard beds in the village have also gone viral, with Biles stating on TikTok that the beds “suck” and will be getting a mattress topper to make it more comfortable. In another move to make the Olympics more sustainable, Olympic Village rooms were not provided with air conditioning, leading some federations, including the United States, to bring their own.
This article was first published on forbes.com.
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