Food for the 2026 Winter Olympics: What Athletes Are Eating in the Olympic Village

The world’s best athletes have gathered in Italy for the 2026 Winter Olympics, and the various Villages are doing their best to make sure they have all the fuel and nutrition they need to strike gold.

The Olympians for the 2026 Winter Games are spread across six cities in total, with the main hubs of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo home to around 1,500 and 1,400 people, respectively.

Up to 4,500 for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day at Milan Village, the head of food and beverage for the Olympics Elisabetta Salvadori he told Reuters in an article published on Tuesday, February 3. The village of Cortina will provide up to 4,000 meals daily.

Salvadori said athletes in every Olympic village are given a variety of options, but they usually choose plain pasta, a basic sauce and protein.

“Then, of course, they have other gastronomic options such as lasagna, gnocchi and desserts,” said Salvadori.

The main Olympic villages have food halls with chefs behind the six stations. Fruit, bread and salad are available at other stands.

The food at the 2026 games has an Italian flair, with pictures from inside the food halls showing various pastas and pizzas, as well as items such as scamorza smoked cheese, plain turkey breast and salmon steak.

Food is available 24 hours a day, with breakfast, lunch and dinner all served on a rotating basis.

“It’s not a Michelin star restaurant, but I find it enough,” the Dutch speed skater Jenning de Boo he told Reuters. “I was eating pasta, salad and chicken. So everything an athlete needs is there.”

Team USA is a figure skating star Ilia Malinin he said, “I like it. It’s comfortable for me.”

Jess PerlmutterA Team USA snowboarder, he spoke about his experience at breakfast at the Village.

“I had the best pasta I’ve ever had here, and I had gelato last night. So it was really good,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Latvian speed skater Reinis Berzins he told Reuters“There’s carbohydrates, protein, lots of snacks throughout the day. It looks like food won’t be a problem at these Olympics.”

“So far we haven’t had any major problems,” said Salvadori, “just a few little things you would expect at first. Someone asked for oatmeal in the morning. It was already there.”

The Olympics in Italy are off to a much better start than the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, where the food has drawn negative reviews from many of the participating athletes.

“I think there’s a misunderstanding that athletes eat,” Team USA rugby player It’s Maher said on TikTok.

After Team USA’s women’s gymnastics team won gold at the team event in Paris, they were asked about the food at the Village.

“Okay, here’s the thing,” Simone Biles he told reporters. “I don’t think we eat proper French food in the City like you guys do because you’re out of the City. For athletes, it’s a little healthier.”

Biles’ partner Hezly Rivera he added, “I don’t think it’s very good, at least what we get in the dining hall. I think French food is good, but what we have there, I don’t think it’s very good. But it gets the job done.”