Training routines, sleep schedules, social calendars – for elite athletes, every aspect of their lives is planned to maximise performance.
But when it comes to mealtimes, what do Australian Olympians eat to keep their energy up and their mood high before a competition?
As an amuse-bouche ahead of the Games’ opening on 26 July, Guardian Australia spoke to 13 Olympic athletes to find out what they eat before they compete – and what they like to feast on when it’s all over.
The night before: ‘Green Thai curry – still my favourite’
The last supper before a competition is not all about carb-loading. Sometimes, says Kyle Vander-Kuyp, Australia’s Olympic deputy chef de mission, it’s about having a meal that will make you feel good (and sleep better).
“Before a race I’d know that I had to get my mood and my mindset right, so I’d do something that would make me happy, like a Chinese or Thai meal,” the former hurdler says.
His go-to comfort food? “Green Thai curry, which is still my favourite, with chicken and prawns.”
A hearty pregame dinner is also on the menu for rugby sevens captain Nick Malouf, who likes two big servings of his wife’s lasagne.
“It tastes great, so that always helps, and then a good mix of carbs and protein,” Malouf says. “Between the games, it’s quite hard to feel like you want to eat … so getting as much food on board the night before is super important.”
For athletes chasing carbohydrates to keep up their energy levels, pasta and pizza are the starches of choice. But for beach volleyballer Mariafe Artacho del Solar, not just any slice will do.
“I do love my pizza, so I take my time in making sure it’s a good place,” she says. “I don’t just like going anywhere. I like the wood oven capricciosa.”
On the day: toast, more toast and Weet-Bix
After loading up the night before, some Olympians try to keep things light on the big day.
Maurice Longbottom, who is part of Australia’s rugby sevens men’s squad, says: “I like to play on an un-full stomach, so I’ll try to have a bit of toast with some bacon in the morning and then I’ll just eat like a rabbit for the rest of the day.”
Toast is a favourite of Matildas reserve goalkeeper Lydia Williams (peanut butter and jam), water polo player Tilly Kearns (peanut butter, banana and honey) and canoe sprint gold medallist Thomas Green (eggs or jam).
When she was competing, the former gold-medal cyclist Anna Meares stuck to “light pecking food” such as Vegemite on Cruskits or a simple berry smoothie.
“When you’re nervous on comp day, it’s hard to eat, to get the calories in. So whatever was easy to consume and yummy and made me happy, that’s where I went,” Australia’s chef de mission says.
Last month Meares announced the Australian athletes’ village pantry will be stocked with 50kg of Vegemite and 1,400kg of Australian cereal, including Weet-Bix.
That’s good news for Alexander Purnell, rower and five-Weet-Bix breakfaster, who enjoys his cereal with a banana. He says the combination gets him “fuelled up [and] ready to go”.
Some, like Torrie Lewis, will have to pack their own pantry staples for Paris. On competition day the 19-year-old sprinter – and Australia’s fastest woman over 100 metres – likes to eat tuna and rice with Nando’s peri-peri sauce.
But for carbs and convenience, high jumper Brandon Starc says pasta is the most reliably available meal.
“At certain comps, you don’t get that much of a choice, but they’ll give you usually a plain sort of pasta with a bolognese sauce or some sort of tomatoey sauce,” he says.
Australia’s athletes will be served by three travelling baristas in Paris, but hockey player Eddie Ockenden says his team has a filter coffee tradition to uphold.
“Just before we get on the bus, we sit in a hallway of a hotel or in the [athletes’] village, make a coffee and muck around,” he says.
“We sit there grinding up our own coffee and it takes a bit of a process but it’s part of it. And that’s a good sort of feeling before we get on the team bus. You’ve had your coffee, had a little bit of a chat and relax. I like that.”
The aftermath: ‘I don’t think you can go wrong with potato’
For Longbottom, the first meal off the field is a chance to refuel. “We go hard – pastas, red meat, whatever we get our hands on, get the proteins and the carbs back in,” he says.
For others, the post-competition meal is less about macros and more about merrymaking.
Hockey player Mariah Williams goes for hot chips – “I don’t think you can go wrong with potato, ever” – while Lewis opts for sweets. “Lollies, chocolates, whatever I can get my hands on – I like Haribo Tangfastics.”
Others look forward to sampling the cuisine of the host city, with water polo co-captain Blake Edwards giving special mention to the dumplings in Tokyo in 2021.
Windsurfer Grae Morris is especially keen to eat “way too much” local cuisine in Paris.
“I’ll be trying to get around as much of the food as I can,” he says. “The brekkie’s a good one. Couple of croissants, a bit of yoghurt, lots of eggs – too many eggs – scrambled with a bit of paprika. It’s definitely an expense but it’s worth it.”
Additional reporting by Sharlotte Thou.
