Diet of an Olympian

When I say Olympian, I’m not talking about the mighty gods and goddesses like Zeus, Hera, Poseidon and the rest of the clan perched on Mount Olympus. I’m talking about the real men and women of our time who have managed to accomplish great feats using only their bodies and sporting paraphernalia at the most celebrated sporting event of all time, the Olympic Games. But what fuels these exceptional athletes? Our infographic reveals all! (Disclaimer: brace yourself for some high-protein diets!)

The first thing you should know is that every diet on the list is specified to the individual needs of the athlete. Their daily calorific intake depends on the sport they practise (as some sports are more intense than others), their body weight, and training regime. Every ounce of food is carefully measured and weighed before being served, for some more than others. What’s clear is that it takes a lot of food to power a sports figure worthy of the Olympics!

Olympic weightlifter Morghan King, for example, eats five to six full meals a day to keep her going. Her meals are very particular; to maintain her weight to compete she must consume very specific amounts of protein and carbohydrates per meal. Being a weightlifter, it’s important that she stays within her weight class. You can look to the infographic to show you how to determine the number of calories you need to maintain your weight.

Sir Chris Hoy’s diet is also very precise. The six-time Olympic cycling champ chows down on 5,000-6,0000 calories worth of carbohydrates, which is roughly 3-5 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight, as cyclists need a constant supply of energy to keep them going during training and races. With plenty of competitive races coming up for fans to wager on, one can only imagine the vast amount of calories being ingested by these super athletes!

Sprinters like Usain Bolt need to keep their calorific intake and weight down to a minimum so as to repair muscles quickly. Therefore, the fastest man in the world eats roughly 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. In fact, he eats low-calorie protein foods such as fish and chicken. He also has a genius way of increasing his carb intake minus the calories – every person’s dream! He might not be competing for the moment, but you can still bet on other agile athletes using our guide.

American professional volleyball player Kerri Walsh Jennings dines around three times a day, and her daily intake consists of 5-7 grams of carbs per kilogram of bodyweight and 1.2-1.7 grams of protein (and not a gram more!). The secret to the three-time gold and one-time bronze medalist’s toned bod can also be found in the infographic, but I can’t say that you’ll like it! But if you’d like some advice and strategy when it comes to volleyball betting, we have some nifty tips.

Jonny Brownlee, the English professional duathlete, and triathlete, also has a rather strict diet. Triathletes need to be incredibly strong and have excellent endurance; they also need to be careful with the amount of protein they eat. It’s more about muscle endurance than strength so small quantities of protein mixed in a 4:1 or 7:4 ratio with carbs works best. The key tactic is being able to sustain energy over three different sports which is no easy feat. That said, his go-to meal before the night before a big race is pizza.

You can head to our infographic for even more information on these diets designed for champions, which also features several other big names in swimming, long and middle-distance running, football, rowing, and boxing.

About the author

Eric Roberts

Sports Journalist

Eric has been a sports journalist for over 20 years and has travelled the world covering top sporting events for a number of publications. He also has a passion for betting and uses his in-depth knowledge of the sports world to pinpoint outstanding odds and value betting opportunities.