American Athletes to bring their own meat to Olympics

[tjcampbell]

China hurt over U.S. food plan for Games

The United States Olympic Committee is planning to transport tons of meat and other foods to a training camp at Beijing Normal University. The 600-plus American athletes are expected to eat their daily meals at the Athletes Village, USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/02/22/olympics.food.ap/index.html

[sushi]

Why not. It's been done at other games according to the article.

And right now, there have been some food issues concerning China.

[arkitect]

China hurt over U.S. food plan for Games

The United States Olympic Committee is planning to transport tons of meat and other foods to a training camp at Beijing Normal University. The 600-plus American athletes are expected to eat their daily meals at the Athletes Village, USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said.

That must be the MacDonalds sponsorship then…
;)

[Much Ado]

God bless irony (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=436472).

[Becan]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A93 Safari/419.3)

God bless irony (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=436472).

ha, brilliant

[Abstract]

Even as an athlete, would I want to go to China and eat American food?

Gimme some rice, bitches.

[bartelby]

God bless irony (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=436472).

Irony? No.
Just coincidence...

[question fear]

Even as an athlete, would I want to go to China and eat American food?

Gimme some rice, bitches.

I read somewhere that american basketball players in China have a really hard time finding food. Many of them just eat rice and whatever is familiar...

[Macmaniac]

Beef its whats for dinner!

[Abstract]

I read somewhere that american basketball players in China have a really hard time finding food. Many of them just eat rice and whatever is familiar...

They're not willing to try anything.

I've been to China. Just eat. My friend is teaching there at the moment, and he's loving the food. He's also quite happy about being able to drink anywhere he wants....

[MacBook-Gal]

I think that it's a smart move. I personally would not want to eat food that was made in China for a number of reasons.

[carlgo]

They work for years and go through all kinds of trials to get to the Olympics and do not want to fail because their body is not used to the local food.

Athletes from other countries do the same when they come here to compete. Nobody has the time to aclimate.

On vacation, food is a different subject, eat local because that is part of the fun. Still, there are limits. I couldn't eat what that Bizarre Food guy does on TV.

[MrSmith]

The thread title immediately reminded me of Linford Christie's lunchbox.

[Leareth]

I think that it's a smart move. I personally would not want to eat food that was made in China for a number of reasons.

The odds are you are eating food made in China.

[biturbomunkie]

i think that's expected, dieting is very important for athletes. i'm no pro, but i bring my protein bars when i travel so i get enough nutrients.

The odds are you are eating food made in China.

poor gal is gonna develop eating disorder now...

[Abstract]

Athletes from other countries do the same when they come here to compete. Nobody has the time to aclimate.


Ok, fair enough, but I think the food the athletes receive at the Olympics would be rather standardized for universal tastes, and absolutely full of the good stuff (and not pure crap). They're probably getting organic food as well, with certain farms growing/raising food especially for the Olympic athletes.

If I was an athlete, I wouldn't be too worried. However, I can understand your point, particularly if the coaches and athletes haven't seen the menu yet.

[Kamera RAWr]

I say its a non-issue as long as American Olympic committee (whatever the organization is called) is willing to pay the cost.

[neonblue2]

And I believe the Australian team is bringing their own water. Perhaps if each country brings something extra they could have a party!

[nplima]

conspiracy theories aside, if athletes wants to be at their absolute best, should they travel to a place 10 time zones away and go for exotic/experimental cuisine?
don't think so...

[biturbomunkie]

And I believe the Australian team is bringing their own water. Perhaps if each country brings something extra they could have a party!

note to self - never invite aussies to parties. :p

[Jaffa Cake]

It's nothing new – sports teams have been taking their own foods and stuff to foreign climes for years. For one thing, it stops any unfortunate disagreements between the local cuisine and athletes digestive systems.

As an example, when the 1970 World Cup was held in Mexico the England team took their own food and drink with them. 'Keeper Gordon Banks decided to sample some local food (I think it was a salad that had been washed and prepared using the local water, but I might be wrong) and ended up bedridden with an upset tummy. As a result, our first choice shot-stopper missed the quarter-final against West Germany – we lost the game and were out of the tournament.

I imagine that the various national Olympic associations wouldn't be keen on any of their athletes having to miss competing after four years worth of training for it. I'm certain many other countries will have similar policies regarding taking their own supplies to China, I'd be highly surprised if the US are the only ones.

[tominated]

note to self - never invite aussies to parties. :p

awww c'mon....