Athletes complain about food shortage at Paris Olympics

The cafeteria is located in the center of the Olympic Village, north of Paris, and can serve 3,200 people at the same time. During the Olympics, the cafeteria will be open day and night, serving 40,000 meals a day. The menu includes more than 500 dishes, half of which are vegetarian. The cafeteria space is divided into six areas, including two areas dedicated to French cuisine, one area for Asian cuisine, one for African-Caribbean cuisine, and two providing a variety of options from around the world.

The organizing committee prepares an average of two and a half meals a day for each athlete, with a total of 600 tons of food. However, the calculations did not meet the actual needs. In recent days, many athletes have complained about the lack of eggs and meat, French newspaper L’Équipe reported.

Some teams have had to send their own chefs to deal with the food shortage in the Olympic Village. Andy Anson, CEO of the British Olympic Association, said that to meet the athletes’ food needs, the team had to invite chefs to their headquarters in Clichy (about 4 km from the village). Daily Mail reported that many athletes chose to eat packed lunch and dinner in this location, instead of eating at the Olympic Village.

Indian athletes also reported a lack of suitable food. Badminton player Tanisha Crasto said she could not eat Rajma (an Indian vegetarian dish) at the restaurant for lunch because it has run out when she arrived. Boxer Amit Panghal complained that lunch at the village was not delicious.

Vietnamese athletes have had no problem with the food at the Olympic Village, a source told VnExpress.

In response to the complaints, the kitchen staff at the Olympic Village said they acknowledged the feedback and would adjust the nutritional content accordingly.

A spokesman told L’Equipe that they are “taking the feedback very seriously” and “are working to increase our supplies to the restaurants in the athletes’ village.”

Paris 2024 CEO Etienne Thobois told a press conference on Monday: “Regarding the food we’ve had to make some adjustments, which is normal in operations that size.”

“There has been a reinforcement in animal proteins with 700 kilos of eggs and a ton of meat to meet the demands of the athletes, who we place at the heart of the Paris 2024 experience,” Thobois said, as cited by Reuters.

According to the organizers, food for athletes at Paris Olympics are served by Michelin-starred chefs.

In addition to the food shortage, the organizing committee has also been criticized for not installing air conditioning in the village. Teams like Japan, the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Denmark, Canada, Greece and Italy had to install their own air conditioning equipment to serve their athletes.

Many athletes have also complained about the lack of transportation to the competition venues. Canadian swimmer Maggie MacNeil posted a video online and said that athletes had to squeeze into buses on the way from the Olympic Village to the swimming pool. The distance from the village to La Defense Arena, where the swimming event takes place, is about 15 km, but some athletes had to spend two hours getting there due to the lack of transportation.