A fantastic blend of cultures from all over the world in one place. This is one of the selling points of the Games Village at every Olympics as the ‘THE PLACE TO BE’ for the two summer weeks held every four years. The blend of so many different cultures offers a wide variety of cuisines to serve the cultural habits and needs of over 12,000 athletes from over 200 regions and countries. While having the opportunity to indulge in such a variety of foods is undoubtedly appealing, it can also create a lot of confusion and uncertainty for many athletes, especially with a conservative diet plan to follow in the pursuit of peak fitness.
This is certainly true for many Indian athletes.
“Athletes and support staff have reported that during Asian Games or other global events, athletes are exposed to new foods and are unfamiliar with them, so they either don’t know what’s in the food they are eating or end up having lots of sweets later,” says Aradhana Sharma, chief nutritionist for the Indian delegation at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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Sharma’s appointment is India’s first in this capacity at an Olympic Games. For long, sports nutritionists have been a key part of the contingents of the bigger and more successful Olympic nations, and India is now showing signs of filling in and making up for the missing pieces of the puzzle in its backroom squad.
During our conversation, Sharma, who leads a two-person team of nutritionists in India based in Paris, was quick to clarify that his job as chief nutritionist was not to dictate what athletes can and cannot eat at the Village. That is the prerogative of athletes’ personal nutritionists. These may include those appointed by their sport’s national federation, sponsors who support specific athletes, or a nutritionist who works full-time with an athlete on their payroll. Sharma’s team was the binding force tasked with making sure that food was the least of athletes’ worries.
“We were there mainly to check that they were following the plans prepared by the nutritionists and also to help them with any new issues or food-related confusions that might arise in Paris,” Sharma said. “If the athletes were unsure about anything or simply wanted to try something new but were hesitant, we would advise them on the best time to eat that particular food item, whether it was before or after training.”
Small details like the right times and amounts to consume certain foods, as well as the nutritional makeup of meals depending on training and competition schedules, can be easily overlooked. However, these factors can have huge consequences, especially at this level where the margins are so thin. This makes the presence of an expert or guide even more important.
Aradhana Sharma, chief nutritionist for the Indian team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
To make life easier for Indian athletes and create more awareness among the group about the science of sports nutrition, the IOA also set up a mobile app. Among guidelines like anti-doping regulations and medical support, and all the other necessary details that the group would need while in Paris, the app included nutritional details and a food menu with plenty of vegetarian and vegan options for the entire duration of the Games – a key requirement for many Indian athletes, so that they don’t have to rely on Indian restaurants outside the Village. Responsible for the diet and nutrition section on the app, Sharma and his team made sure that the nutritional content of the food items available at the Village was well-listed, such as protein, carbohydrates, fat, etc. Athletes were informed about which foods they should consume more or less of, which foods they should avoid completely, and which foods were ideal or harmful depending on the time of day, taking into account their regular nutrition plans and food intolerances.
“The advantage of having an app with all this detailed information is that athletes know in advance what they can eat on a particular day and what they should and shouldn’t eat, rather than just going in and trying to figure something out. It’s much more efficient for them,” Sharma explained.
Even nutritionists give clear advice to athletes not to experiment with food too close to their competitions. “It’s kind of a sports nutrition rule; stick to your normal diet before a competition,” Sharma said.
But it’s not that simple. As we approach events, many athletes rely on ‘comfort foods’ – foods that are not typically part of their nutrition plan. The challenge for Sharma and other sports nutritionists is to help athletes achieve the comfort they are looking for, while also ensuring that nothing athletes consume ultimately negatively impacts performance.
“We have to take it on a case-by-case basis,” Sharma said. “Sometimes, if we know that an athlete’s comfort food is not going to help performance, it’s still OK to let them consume it in small or well-measured amounts.”
Comfort foods are an even bigger factor for female athletes, who are often in the middle of their menstrual cycles during games. Sharma sheds light on how menstrual cycles affect not only cravings but also women’s needs in terms of food and nutrition.
“For female athletes, the plans may vary depending on the phase of their cycle they’re in,” Sharma explained. “And based on that, their energy, protein and micronutrient requirements may change. But they’re very knowledgeable about it because they’ve been working in a high-performance environment for so long.”
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India’s Manu Bhaker (2nd from left), who won two medals in Paris, competes in one of the shooting events.
On the other end of the spectrum is the anxiety that comes with preparing for competition, which can inhibit proper food intake. Many athletes often find themselves unable to eat at all, let alone comfort foods, on event days. This is where having someone like Sharma can be a huge help.
“In these cases, we make sure that the food they consume the night before the event can give them enough energy during the competition… So even if they can’t have a good breakfast in the morning, we can still manage well.”
Of course, there are other variables that come into play, such as extra care when it comes to food intake, especially for those competing in sports that require strict weight requirements on each competition day, such as boxers, weightlifters and wrestlers. The disqualification of Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat for being 100 grams overweight on the morning of her final at the Paris Olympics was one of the most talked about topics of the Games. While it is not yet clear whether a miscalculation in her food intake was the reason behind her gaining more weight than she could have lost overnight, it does show how demanding and complex the job of a nutritionist is.
“We are what we eat,” goes the old adage. While awareness of the science and benefits of sports nutrition has increased significantly at elite sporting levels in India over the last decade, Sharma strongly emphasises the importance of spreading the message to the grassroots and ‘teaching them at a young age’.
“The earlier you educate a child, the more likely you are to change or improve (eating) habits… I always pay close attention when I work with children because this is a time when we as nutritionists can establish good habits,” Sharma said.
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