USA speed skater on eating like an Olympian
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – One of the things that people back home want to know about the Winter Olympics ... how’s the food?
Getting your body properly prepared with great nutrition is a huge part of the job for a speed skater like me, or any athlete.
It’s a bit of a challenge in any different country to eat right. The default option in the Olympic Village is the main athletes’ dining hall, which is for all countries and is provided by the organizing committee.
However, the food in there isn’t quite what we’re used to, so the United States Olympic Committee went above and beyond and created their own separate dining facility. It’s really close to where we are staying, you can see it from my window. There’s a whole kitchen staff and snacks we’re used to – fruit, salad, sweet potatoes, normal foods that we’d normally load up on, so we don’t have to eat something new that might throw us off rhythm.
Breakfast is in our nutritionist’s room and I’ve only been to the main dining hall once or twice. I feel better in the USOC place.
The main hall looks cool, kind of like a school lunch room with different stands for pizza, pasta and of course a McDonalds in the corner. I’m still competing – I finished 11th in the 5,000-meter event on Friday night – so I haven’t checked out McDonald’s yet.
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There are plenty of tables so you can meet and talk to people, but they have been keeping us out of there for food safety. Also, you’re in contact with so many more people, there is a higher chance of getting sick with the flu going around.
I moved from the Netherlands to the U.S. and I live and train in Salt Lake City. As a medical student (currently on leave) it’s important to me to look after myself.
My eating plan is all about nutrition as a priority. I eat oats for breakfast, with milk, and sometimes throw in cranberries or peanut butter to make it dance. I get up late, around 10.30 a.m., because our competitions are at night.
Lunch is mid-afternoon after our first workout, yesterday it was sweet potato, chicken breast and vegetables. I eat something small before the second training of the day, often yogurt and granola.
Dinner is at 9, that seems to work well with our schedule. Before my race I had rice and chicken and carrots. I go really bland with flavors, no sauce, I don’t even care about taste at this point, even though it tastes great actually. I don’t season it or add sauces. It is all about the nutritional value to my body.
I drink tons of water. We have cases in our room and they disappear very fast. I might add a sports drink if I’m really trying to hydrate fast.
I’m still in the team pursuit potentially so I’m not going to go crazy with food now. When that time comes my cheat meal will probably be chocolate, although that’s not really a meal, is it?
Tonight my friend Esmee Visser won the 5000 and I was very happy for her as we used to be teammates back in Holland. The Netherlands are incredibly strong once again and the whole country is fixated on speed skating.
Recently our team nutritionist and the ski team nutritionist set up a cooking competition and my team won. We made Korean food because of the Games and now they are talking about putting us up against the winners of the bobsled/skeleton cooking contest.
Even when I’m out of competition I’m more aware of health than the average non-athlete and being in the medical field it’s nice to have that inside scoop on what is scientifically proven and what is hyped as a fad food.
I like to make the best choices, whether here at the Olympics or just in everyday life.
(told to Paste BN Sports' Martin Rogers)