Olympic organisers have been forced to order an extra 700 kg of eggs and tonnes of meat after athletes complained about the primarily vegan menu on offer in the Olympic Village.
Athletes complained about the lack of protein-rich foods, with some blaming it for their poorer-than-expected performance.
Before the Games began, organisers boasted that 60% of food options in the Olympic Village would be plant-based, as part of an effort to make the games the most “sustainable” ever.
However, officials have been forced to cave to demands to bring in more meat, dairy, and eggs—after supplies quickly ran low.
Retired Australian Olympic swimmer James Magnussen criticised the lack of meat options for athletes in the Olympic village, saying it could be partly responsible for the lack of world records at the Paris Olympics.
Writing in the Australian Daily Telegraph, Magnussen said, “The lack of world records boils down to this whole eco-friendly, carbon footprint, vegan-first mentality rather than high performance,” adding:
They had a charter that said 60% of food in the village had to be vegan-friendly and the day before the opening ceremony they ran out of meat and dairy options in the village because they hadn’t anticipated so many athletes would be choosing the meat and dairy options over the vegan-friendly ones.
The caterer had to rejig their numbers and bring in more of those products because surprise, surprise—world class athletes don’t have vegan diets.
Meanwhile, Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus blamed the “ridiculous” conditions in the Olympic village for hampering her bid to set a world record in the 400m freestyle on Saturday.
“It probably wasn’t the time I thought I was capable of, but living in the Olympic Village makes it hard to perform,” Titmus said. “It’s definitely not made for high performance, so it’s about who can really keep it together in the mind.”
It is not just the “sustainable” menu that is raising the ire of athletes. Several have complained about the living quarters having no air conditioning, leading some to ship in their own aircon devices to keep competitors cool.
Australian Olympic Committee chief executive Matt Carroll said, “We appreciate the concept of not having air conditioning due to the carbon footprint,” but added, “This is a high-performance Games. We’re not going for a picnic.”
Others have complained about the hard beds. In a video on TikTok captioned “Already had a massage to undo the damage,” water polo player Tilly Kearns said, “This is how night one went on the cardboard beds.” Her teammate Gabi Palm adds, “My back is about to fall off.”
This official furniture was promoted as an upgrade on the ‘no-sex’ beds of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but with apparently little additional comfort.
Poor living conditions are just the latest problem to hit the Paris Olympics. Blasphemous elements of the opening ceremony have attracted widespread criticism, while the filthy conditions in the River Seine forced the triathlon to be postponed by a day.
