The Paris Games are embracing sustainable, plant-based options in the athletes’ village (Picture: Getty)
The great Usain Bolt famously claimed that McDonald’s chicken nuggets helped power him to gold-medal supremacy at the Beijing Olympics – but fast-food options are off the menu for athletes in Paris this summer.
Organisers for the 2024 Olympic Games have instead opted for a healthy, sustainable approach, with a host of high-end French cuisine treats on offer as competitors from 206 nations across the globe prepare for the biggest sporting event of them all.
The athletes’ village, sitting in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis, will be embracing locally sourced and plant-based food options, which French President Emmanuel Macron himself got to sample on his visit to the site this week.
Incredibly, Paris 2024’s head of catering, Philipp Wurz, suggested that as much as 20 per cent of the meals had been provided by Ronald McDonald and his iconic Golden Arches in London 12 years ago.
‘It’s fair to reflect that it’s a much healthier Olympics in Paris – no McDonald’s, no chicken nuggets, more healthy food. It’s definitely less junk food. We really try to push the quality high,’ Wurz said.
‘We 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.
‘One very specific French feature that we have is our Michelin-starred chef kitchen, so twice per day the athletes can also go there and really discover very high-level French cuisine cooked on site by our Michelin-star chefs. We have four of them and eight recipes, so this has become a very popular spot.’
When did McDonald’s’ Olympics sponsorship end?
The Games’ fresh approach comes after McDonald’s ended its Olympic sponsorship deal in the lead-up to the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
The food chain had been associated with the Games for 41 years and contributed as much as $1billion in every four-year cycle before the sponsorship deal was halted in 2017.
But while athletes are forced to do without Big Macs in the village, burgers and hot dogs will be among the athletes’ options – just a little healthier and locally produced.
‘Even the chefs’ menus have been developed with sports nutritionists, so it’s very high-level cuisine, still respecting what the athletes actually need,’ Wurz continued.
‘Once the competition is over, they can also just let it go and fully profit on what everything France offers best.
‘We will also provide hot dogs and burgers, but not at the main dining hall – we have dedicated grab-and-go outlets where we still provide this. Of course, the meat is 100 per cent French origin and will be grilled in our kitchens.’
There is also an active commitment for vegetarian options to be more readily available at the Games, with plant-based nuggets the only variety of nugget on the table for athletes this summer – much to a certain Jamaican sprinter’s horror, no doubt.
‘The vegetalisation, the plant-based food, is one of the most important commitments,’ Gregoire Bechu, the Games’ sustainable food project manager, said.
What meals have athletes requested to eat?
The very finest croissants and pains au chocolate, two of France’s culinary staples, will be filling up hungry athletes at breakfast, while 12 separate cheeses are set to do the rounds over the coming weeks.
‘The cheeses are high level and well-known French cheeses such as Comte and Brie de Meaux,’ Wurz added.
‘Then we have very specific goat cheeses. So we have a total of 12 different cheeses that we have in rotation.’
Wurz revealed that porridge had been widely requested by Team GB athletes in the French capital. Meanwhile, Korean competitors have specifically asked for kimchi and sticky rice has been among the demands of the Chinese delegation.