In a devastating blow to any athletes at Paris 2024 Olympics who were hoping to celebrate a gold medal the Usain Bolt way — with 1,000 chicken nuggets — the iconic McDonald’s menu item will not be available to Olympians in the village.
This year’s Olympic Games at the French capital city will aim to be healthier than previous ones by changing up the Olympic Village menu, with four Michelin-starred chefs serving up protein-heavy French cuisine.
The 10,500 athletes living in the athlete’s village are set to be chowing down on croissants, poached eggs, artichoke cream, and shavings of sheep’s cheese topped with truffle.
Offering a range of specialist food for the world’s top athletes, some of the fancy-schmancy menu items include croissants, poached egg, artichoke cream, and shavings of sheep’s cheese topped with truffle.
Bolt famously ate 1,000 McDonald’s chicken nuggets in the lead up to winning gold in the 100m and 200m sprints at the Beijing 2008 Olympics — and it’s eating habits like Bolt‘s that Paris 2024’s head of food, Philipp Würz, wants to avoid.
Paris 2024’s head of food confirms nuggets are off the menu
Würz told The Guardian he hopes to raise the standard of eating after he discovered that a whopping 20 per cent of athlete’s meals at the London Olympics were from Maccas. Now that’s a TONNE of nugs.
“It’s a much healthier menu now. With no McDonald’s, no chicken nuggets, and more healthy food,” he told the publication.
“Even the star chefs’ menus have been developed with sports nutritionists, so it’s very high level cuisine, still respecting what the athletes actually need.”
Instead of offering chicken nuggets, Würz confirmed the closest alternative will be soya-based vegetarian nuggets, which athletes can order at a newly built 3,500-seat restaurant in the Village.
“The athletes are coming into the biggest restaurant in the world. They are amazed by both the architectural setup of the main dining hall, but also by the quality of the recipes and the food,” said Würz.
“We tried to come up with a very specific plan to harness the French know-how, the savoir-faire of the French cuisine, which of course, has a reputation all over the planet.”
He estimated that every day a total of 1,200 Michelin-starred meals would be served, and 40,000 meals overall. Additionally, 30 per cent of the meals available to athletes would be plant-based.
Fun Olympics fact: one thing athletes won’t be able to do in the Olympic Village is drink, as it has been delegated an alcohol-free zone.
Are McDonald’s nuggets banned from the Olympics?
Despite the best efforts of Philipp Würz, chicken nuggets from McDonald’s aren’t actually a banned substance — they just won’t be readily available to athletes in the Village as they have been at previous Olympics.
The reason they were so easily accessible in previous Games is because McDonald’s used to be a sponsor.
Despite sponsoring the Olympic Games for more than 40 years, Maccas ended its partnership in 2020, with Paris 2024 being the second Olympic Games this without a McSponsorship.
Athletes looking to chow down on Maccas food will still be able to purchase it from any of the McDonald’s stores in Paris, but they won’t get the special treatment they used to.
Though Würz says there’s “definitely less junk food”, Olympians with cravings will always be catered for.
“We’ve really tried to push the quality high up there. But you always have to provide, let’s say, things like hot dogs and burgers,” he explained.
“However we do not provide those at the main dining hall, just at dedicated Grab and Go outlets.”
As a saving grace however, countries have been allowed to make specific food requests, such as Team South Korea asking for kimchi. Great Britain reportedly abused this power by requesting porridge — because of course they did.
The Australian Olympians also packed some of their own essentials to keep them fuelled for the Games, which included 9,700 slushies and 2,400 meat pies. Who says we don’t have our own cuisine?
Long live the nuggets. Viva la junk food.
For more details on where and when to watch the Olympic Games Paris 2024, check out our guide here!
{Image: Getty]
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