This segment is titled: Fueling Olympians with a Mountain of Pasta, and The Delicious Chaos of Eating Like an Olympian in Italy.

While here in Rhode Island we are buried under a pile of senseless snow, picture yourself walking into the Olympic Village in Milan or breathing in the fresh mountain air of Corteena d'Ampezzo during the Milano Corteena 2026 Winter Games. After a tough training session, you're drawn to the dining hall, ready for a meal packed with carbs, protein, and plenty of Italian flavor. Unlike previous Olympic events like Sochi or PyeongChang, where food blandness left much to be desired, here the menu is so tasty that athletes are sharing pizza reviews on social media, acting like Michelin inspectors. I am writing this piece as I have cooked at four Winter Olympics myself, starting with Salt Lake City in 2002, and can tell you firsthand what really goes on in those hall kitchens. I vividly remember one busy evening in Salt Lake City when the Canadian ski team stood, eagerly facing a mountain of pappardelle pasta. With the power out due to a snowstorm, we hurriedly improvised under emergency lights, turning the situation into a spontaneous culinary adventure. The athletes gathered around, laughing and joking, as we created a makeshift assembly line, cutting pasta with whatever tools were on hand. It was a moment of delicious chaos, blending the thrill of the games with the camaraderie that emerges over a shared plate of flour and eggs. Those are the moments that make cooking at the Olympics unforgettable.

Imagine something like up to 4,500 meals whipped up daily in the Milan hub alone, nearly 4,000 in Corteena, and another 2,300 in Predazzo. That's a mountain of pasta, with around 600 kilograms dished out each day. To put that into perspective, it's enough to fuel approximately 1,200 downhill runs, underscoring the athletes' immense calorie needs. Athletes swarm the carb stations like kids at a candy store, loading plates with spaghetti, gnocchi, fettuccine, and lasagna. One American freestyler declared she's had "the best pasta I've ever had here," while others admit to smashing entire pizzas post-practice. South African cross-country skier Matt Smith is on a mission, rating a quattro formaggi pizza an impressive 8.5/10 (lasagna got a polite "good"), and even scored a custom South African flag pizza topped with herbs and cured meats. Talk about personalized fueling! And for a sprinkle of quirky trivia, the most popular midnight snack among athletes is a surprising choice: Nutella-stuffed croissants, while the oddest request, hands down, was for spaghetti covered in chocolate sauce, proving their adventurous and unusual taste buds.

The Canadian women's hockey team can't get enough focaccia, and sometimes bread is more popular than pasta. Their plates are loaded with pasta in meat sauce, fresh mozzarella, burrata, Parmigiano, and grilled proteins like chicken, turkey, veal, beef, salmon, or white fish. There are also vegetables and fruit for balance, and one player joked, "They're coming, OK?" But when you're burning thousands of calories on the ice or in the snow, a little extra cheese is just part of the deal. That extra cheese provides quick glycogen replenishment and boosts calcium intake for bone health. This indulgence aligns with a periodized nutrition strategy, where cycles of load, perform, and recover are carefully planned to ensure optimal performance over time.

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