We know what you’re thinking about as you watch all those great Olympic athletes take to the ice and snow, executing feats of skill that bedazzle us all: What are they eating?
Well, thanks to several insiders at the Olympic Village, we now have the scoop!
OK, actually, it’s the Olympians themselves (largely snowboarders, from what we can tell) and they’re not exactly sending us covert reports: They’re posting videos of what the inside of the Olympic Village dining room, and the food they’re being served, is like.
Here’s three-time gold medalist and snowboarder Shaun White, replying to a request to see what the Olympic Village’s food is like, and takes us along for the tour:
“The food’s really good,” he pronounces at the end of the video.
Sure looks that way! Talk about choice. And if you’re having a little deja vu, yes, the hall is reminiscent of the one set up in 2021 for the Tokyo Olympics, which athletes also made sure to document on social media.
First-timer and fellow snowboarder Tessa Maud went going straight for the food selfies, writing, “i tried sweet and sour pork, pork dumplings, spicy tofu, and dan dan noodles pls tell me more things to try.”
In another video, she writes, “come to dinner with me,” then shows off her various Chinese meals, including Kung Pao chicken, remarking on how many vegetables she’s eating and the snacks they provide:
While yet another snowboarder, Maddie Maestro, shows off the breakfast items, writing, “sneak peak of breakfast”:
Leon Vockensperger, a German snowboarder, starts his tour outside the doors of the dining hall, where you can see the ground is packed with snow. Inside, there’s a peep at some of the sponsored areas of the Village (KFC and Pizza Hut!) along with the long line of food options. “Insight into the #OlympicVillage : Food edition,” he writes.
And Estonian snowboarder Kelly Sildaru has a different idea about “How to dine in safely in the Olympic village” — it’s not about COVID-19, per se (though of course she’s masked) — instead, she has to make sure not to overeat because, as she notes, the food hall is open 24/7. She also gives us a great glimpse of those Plexiglas dividers at the tables:
By now, if you’re not already rushing off to get a snack of your own (or order in some Chinese food delivery), you might be wondering: Where are the robots?
In late January, much ado was made over the way food would be prepared and delivered safely at the Beijing Olympics, specifically that it would be prepared by robots and delivered via overhead conveyance. But while all of these athletes may maintain a safe distance from any servers behind the counter, they’re largely serving themselves from the buffet.
What? No robot food overlords? Well, not in the dining halls, at least. Apparently the bots are busy taking care of things in the Main Media Center, where they sling cocktails and lower the food from the ceilings.
Thus far, though, there’s one hungry, hungry snowboarder missing from the food tours: Chloe Kim, who won gold in the halfpipe on Wednesday. Back in 2018, when she won her first gold, she also made headlines for tweeting out her “hangry” status, and this year she did ask reporters mid-interview if they had any snacks. (They did.) Now that she’s scored big, we’re wondering if Kim will think about taking us on her own wander through the dining hall.
