Don’t tell Usain Bolt: chicken nuggets are out at this year’s Olympics, dropped in favour of Michelin-starred food and plant-based meals.
Appropriately for the country that gave us haute cuisine, the menu across France’s Olympic Village has been prepared by top chefs and includes croissants, poached eggs, artichoke cream and even veal in a velouté sauce.
It’s a far cry from the days of the 2008 Beijing Games, where Usain Bolt ate a reported 1,000 chicken nuggets over the 10 days of the event as he set a men’s 100m world record of 9.69 seconds.
But McDonald’s is no longer an Olympic sponsor no longer has such influence and fast food has been dropped in favour of nosh designed with athletes in mind – but plucky Team GB has insisted on porridge being available for its athletes on site.
Around a fifth of all meals eaten at the London 2012 games were McDonald’s, which was then an Olympic sponsor – something Philipp Würz, the Olympics head of food, is keen to change.
Say goodbye to McDonalds at the Olympics – the fast food giant is no longer a sponsor of the Games
Instead, athletes can expect a menu of world-class cuisine prepared under the guidance of four Michelin-starred chefs
Poached eggs, artichoke cream and veal in a velouté sauce are among the dishes being prepared – alongside a dedicated boulangerie serving baked goods
Thomas Bach (foreground), president of the International Olympic Committee, samples the salad bar at the Olympic Village on Monday
Usain Bolt famously claimed to have eaten 1,000 chicken nuggets from McDonalds in the 10 days of the 2008 Beijing Olympics (pictured here eating a taco in 2009)
French president Emmanuel Macron samples some of the Olympic Village food in Paris yesterday
Even the desserts are appropriately high class – such as this light chocolate raspberry mousse with crunchy tuile
The menu at one of the cafeterias in the Olympic Village shows some of the less fancy offerings – including protein yoghurts and cereal bars for health-conscious athletes
‘It’s a much healthier menu now, with no McDonald’s, no chicken nuggets, and more healthy food,’ he told The Guardian.
‘Even the star chefs’ menus have been developed with sports nutritionists, so it’s very high-level cuisine, still respecting what the athletes actually need.’
Michelin-starred chef Amandine Chaignot, Alexandre Mazzia and Akrame Benallal are among the top French chefs who have helped to craft the menu offered at a 3,500 seat restaurant in the Olympic village.
There are also salad bars, fruit stalls, a cheese stand, desserts, soups, daily specials and a buffet alongside the more classically French offerings.
Around 80 per cent of the food will be from France – and 100 per cent of the meat has been sourced from French suppliers. And everything will be served up on French porcelain dishes.
But ‘grab and go’ areas will also offer hot dogs, burgers and nuggets – but the latter will be made out of soya. Approximately 30 per cent of the meals available will be exclusively plant-based.
And, of course, an on-site boulangerie will churn out baguettes – six kilometres of them a day – alongside thousands of croissants, pain au chocolat and other baked goods every day.
There are six dining stands offering up food from around the world – with one trading in traditional French cuisine, and another offering halal-prepared meats.
Among the offerings tonight, according to the digital menu, are pan-fried pork chops, braised sardines, cod and prune condiment, lentil dahl, dumplings and a cheese soufflé – alongside pizza, pasta and a mixed grill.
Caterers are expected to provide 13 million meals to almost 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
As an international event by its very nature, the Olympics allows teams to make special requests for their own cuisine. For Japan, miso; the Chinese requested sticky rice. As for Britain? A hearty bowl of porridge – a sentiment shared by the Irish team.
‘Porridge is something that the French really don’t do very well, or don’t do at all,’ Sharon Madigan, head of nutrition for Team Ireland, told the New York Times.
‘We are bringing oats. Lots of them.’
The most common requests have been for classic athlete-friendly food – protein-rich chicken skewers and salmon fillets, as well as treats such as margherita pizza.
But there won’t be a drop of wine to sip after collecting any medals as there is a ban on alcohol in the Olympic villages.
It will be the same story for fans watching the Games, as Olympic organisers have not sought an exemption to ‘Evin’s Law’, the French law banning the sale of alcohol to the general public in sports stadiums.
Celebrity chef Alexandre Mazzia is among the top cooks asked to help prepare the Olympic menu – his hand is seen applying the finishing touches to a herbaceous chickpea pomade during an Olympics food preview event earlier this year
Crunchy quinoa muesli prepared by Michelin-starred chef Akrame Benallal (above) will be among the dishes on offer for athletes
Alexandre Mazzia (left) and Akrame Benallal (right) – two of the world-class chefs recruited to feed some 15,000 Olympians
Green lentil dahl with sky coriander and corn tuile – another of the dishes on offer at the Olympic Games
The canteen at the Olympic Village in Paris, as seen during a preview event last month
But Mr Würz believes the food will be so good the athletes won’t miss out. And if they do get bored, an intimacy ban enacted during the Tokyo 2020 games to curtail the spread of Covid has been lifted – with 300,000 condoms distributed to athletes.
‘No need to be a gold medallist to wear it,’ reads the packaging on the contraceptives, left in the bedrooms of Olympic athletes and staff, reports People.
‘We have tried to come up with a very specific plan to promote the French know-how, the savoir faire of the French cuisine, which of course, has a reputation all over the planet,’ he said.
‘Once the competition is over, they can also just let it go and fully profit on what everything France offers best.’
Team GB is sending over 300 athletes to Paris for the Olympic Games – 155 men and 172 women.
They include 18 Olympians from London 2012, and 16-year-old Sky Brown, who became Britain’s youngest ever medalist after winning bronze in skateboarding in Tokyo.
The event kicks off with the opening ceremony on July 26, before the games themselves get underway on July 27.
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