The Olympic Games have just kicked off, and athletes worldwide already owe a huge thank you to the host nation. It was over a thousand years ago that Italy, thanks to Arab traders, first embraced dried wheat noodles. Over centuries, they perfected this simple dish, transforming it into the globally cherished food we now know as pasta.
Fast forward to today, and Olympic athletes are some of pasta’s biggest fans, relying on this carb-packed powerhouse to fuel their intense training and competitions. Despite evolving nutritional science, pasta remains an indispensable part of sports, as common as spandex and as vital as any energy drink. So, it’s no wonder that the thought of carbo-loading this month in Italy—the very birthplace of pasta—has many Winter Olympians absolutely thrilled.
Pasta dishes are featured at Trattoria Pizzeria in Milan.
“I’m definitely a pasta girl, so I’m super hyped about this,” exclaimed Mystique Ro, a 31-year-old American skeleton racer. “Spaghetti is my absolute favorite, but I also love gnocchi and fettuccine.”
A tempting bowl of pasta, featuring nuts, greens, and mushrooms, is prepared specially for the Games at Miscusi restaurant in central Milan.
Imagine the dream: a super-fast metabolism and a job that requires you to devour heaps of delicious fettuccine!
During these Olympic Games, a staggering 600 kilograms (roughly 1,300 pounds) of pasta will be dished out daily across the three athlete village cafeterias, confirmed Elisabetta Salvadori, head of food and beverage for the Italian Olympic organizing committee.
Adding to the excitement, the International Olympic Committee has even designed a unique pasta shape resembling the iconic Olympic rings. Unfortunately for food enthusiasts, the I.O.C. states this is a “limited-edition product not available for sale.”
Local restaurants are also embracing the carb craze. Miscusi, a popular spot in central Milan, launched a special Olympic pasta dish—creamy gnocchi with mushrooms, kale, and walnuts—along with a fun motto: “Eat pasta, ski fasta!”
The Greatest Pastas of All Time (GOAT)
Three artfully presented pasta dishes sit on a restaurant table, with a hand poised to twirl a forkful of noodles.
Just ask an Olympian about their all-time favorite pasta dishes, and watch their faces light up with enthusiasm. Take Alex Hall, 27, a U.S. slopestyle skiing gold medalist from four years ago. He fuels his extensive mountain training, sometimes even breakfast, with pasta. For him, tortellini and farfalle are the undisputed GOATs of pasta.
“Cook them quickly,” advised Hall, whose mother hails from Bologna, Italy. “Always keep them al dente.”
Decades ago, top athletes would load up on massive amounts of protein, like a hefty steak, right before a competition. This tradition shifted dramatically in the 1960s, when Swedish scientists unveiled the incredible power of carbohydrates as an energy source.
This marked the birth of carbo-loading, and pasta swiftly became a cornerstone of athletic diets worldwide.
A person in a floral jacket and purple tie proudly holds a rigatoni dish. Another image shows a spread of pasta, bread, and red wine glasses on a restaurant table, depicting the rich culinary scene.
Tennis legend Roger Federer famously enjoyed pasta with a light tomato sauce roughly two hours before nearly every match of his illustrious career. Similarly, events like the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon (which often hosted its dinner at Central Park’s Tavern on the Green) have long featured pre-race pasta dinners.
Continuing this tradition, St. Joseph Catholic Church in Hayward, Wisconsin, will once again host its annual “spaghetti feed” this month. Started in 1982, this event welcomes participants of the American Birkebeiner, North America’s largest cross-country skiing race.
“People always come back for more,” shared Mary Roles, a 74-year-old volunteer who last year helped cook 95 pounds of dry pasta for 468 hungry participants. “Everyone leaves happy.”
Pre-race pasta has even found its way into pop culture as a running joke. Fans of NBC’s “The Office” will recall Michael Scott unwisely devouring a huge container of fettuccine Alfredo right before a five-kilometer charity run.
However, for today’s elite athletes, the aggressive carbo-loading practices of previous decades have evolved into a more sophisticated approach, which Hunter Baum, a dietitian for the U.S. ski and snowboard team, calls “carbo focusing.”
“Now, it’s all about evidence, practical application, and research,” Mr. Baum explained. “We’re focused on how to better target and strategically time carbohydrate intake.”
A Culinary Conundrum for Italian Chefs
The bustling kitchen of Trattoria Pizzeria Meeting in Milan, where chefs prepare dishes.
As a massive influx of athletes arrived in northern Italy, Olympic organizers adopted a strictly “food-as-fuel” philosophy for dining. This meant facing the surprising reality that many top competitors prefer plain pasta with just a hint of sauce—a culinary preference considered almost sacrilegious in a country renowned for its passionate food culture, akin to ordering a cappuccino after lunch.
“From an Italian perspective, this is quite surprising,” Ms. Salvadori admitted, carefully choosing her words. She was tasked with relaying this unexpected news to the local caterers for the athlete villages, who had been eager to demonstrate their exquisite culinary skills.
“They were, to be honest, a little disappointed,” she confessed.
Despite this, athletes can still enjoy a range of traditional, heartier Italian dishes in the cafeterias, including lasagna, cacio e pepe, and various ravioli. Risotto and polenta, quintessential foods from the Games’ host cities, Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, are also readily available.
A chef meticulously plates fusilli with a rich red sauce. Another image captures a woman enjoying a pasta dish, a red napkin tucked into her sweater.
Ultimately, pasta’s widespread appeal—and its unwavering popularity among athletes—lies in its incredible adaptability.
“Think of it as a canvas where you can express your own culture, your personal taste, and your specific preferences,” explained Fabio Parasecoli, a professor of food studies at New York University. “While Italians have strict rules for their pasta, once it’s embraced globally, it becomes a culinary free-for-all.”
However, it’s worth noting that pasta’s Olympic history hasn’t always been a culinary triumph.
Resi Stiegler, an American Alpine skier at the 2006 Turin Games in Italy, famously criticized the athlete village pasta as “horrible.”
Even Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian ever, confessed to reporters at the 2016 Rio Summer Games that he had to force himself to eat “a pound of spaghetti” as part of his grueling post-swim recovery, despite his dislike for it. “I’m really not a spaghetti fan,” he admitted, adding, “I absolutely had to force it down.”
An Olympian’s True Test: Italian Willpower
A customer browses a refrigerated case filled with tortellini dishes in a grocery store, symbolizing the abundance of pasta.
Naturally, athletes have other tasty ways to get their carbohydrates. At the Paris Summer Games two years prior, Kenyan athletes brought their traditional ugali, a cornmeal staple, while the Irish team arrived with plenty of porridge.
“For us, pho is a big part of the diet,” shared Chris Plys, 38, an American curler.
Yet, when it comes to carbs, pasta undeniably reigns supreme.
Derek Parra, an American speedskater and a two-time medalist from the 2002 Games, fondly reminisces about his 1996 trip to Padua, Italy, for the Inline Speed Skating World Championships. The evening before his first race, he indulged in some tortellini carbonara at a local restaurant.
“The very next day, I won a gold medal,” he chuckled, “so naturally, I went back every single night after that.”
Jake Adicoff, 30, a U.S. Paralympic cross-country skier, remembers taking a cooking class in Italy during a childhood family vacation. He learned to prepare pasta e ceci, a hearty chickpea stew, and now often cooks it for his teammates using ditalini, a small, tubular pasta.
A person elegantly holds a pasta dish featuring long, flat noodles in a vibrant red sauce. Another close-up shows twisted pasta mixed with beans and glistening pesto sauce.
“It’s packed with vegetables, protein, and carbs, plus it’s incredibly easy to make,” he said. “It’s truly a perfect winter meal.”
With Italy’s culinary temptations everywhere, some athlete gourmands will undoubtedly face a true test of willpower.
Jason Brown, an American figure skater and a self-proclaimed Italian food enthusiast, even rerouted a family trip to Greece last summer for a dedicated day of eating in Rome. His culinary tour included Ristorante Pietro Valentini, where he declared the truffle gnocchi was “to die for.”
During the Games, Brown, 31, intends to maintain strict discipline, opting for homemade smoothies prepared with a blender he brings in his luggage.
But once his events are finished, he laughed, “I’m going to carbo-load like crazy!”