Sports Nutrition for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: What it takes to fuel Australia’s best

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, to be held in July 2021, have been a constantly evolving landscape and will be an Olympic experience unrivalled by any other Olympics so far. Peak performance and health for athletes and staff has never been more important, and the role appropriate nutrition plays in supporting performance and health outcomes will be paramount.

Establishing a nutrition service for the Australian Olympic Team in Tokyo has involved many layers of consideration and contingency plans to make sure we have optimal nutrition strategies in place. We have been grounded by a purpose to create an environment which enables athletes to execute their well-practiced performance nutrition plans.

Prior to COVID we were working with some challenging anticipated circumstances to manage, including extreme heat and humidity, traveling long distances, early starts and long days, food safety, power conversions and limited space. Throw in a global pandemic and detailed COVID-19 safe countermeasures on top and that means quite a few challenges and boundaries to work within.

The nutritional needs, tastes, energy demands, schedule, and special dietary requirements of Australian athletes have been considered to offer a range of services to support their needs at the Games, both in the village and at venues. A wide range of convenient and non-perishable food selections, targeted supplements and cooling techniques will be shipped to Tokyo to set up the food environment we have envisaged. With a strong foundation in place to cover essential nutrition needs it will invite flexibility to be agile with our service delivery and adapt to the environment to support the unique needs of the athletes and ensure they can feel and perform at their best.

As the athletes will be facing a confined and somewhat unfamiliar environment, it’s also important that we support the athletes as humans and acknowledge the role that food plays beyond fuelling. Having familiar and comforting food available can create a positive experience and welcoming environment which will likely be of significant physiological and psychological benefit.

It’s been a remarkable experience to be a part of so far and has offered so many learning opportunities. From championing the nutrition non negotiables, working through challenges, to seeing the support and value for nutrition services, and the role we can play in the athlete’s experience and performance at the Games. Learning from the athletes as well, they have shown their resilience and focus with the extended preparation for the Games and their dedication to compete and show how unbeatable they are not just on the world stage but in spirit

Authors

GARY SLATER, SALLY WALKER AND HOLLY EDSTEIN Gary Slater (Advanced Sports Dietitian) and Sally Walker (Advanced Sports Dietitian) have established the nutrition services for the Australian Olympic Team as part of headquarters performance support, assisted by Holly Edstein (Accredited Sports Dietitian) with on the ground support at the games. We would like to acknowledge the work of dietitians who have worked on previous Olympic campaigns before us, as we continue to build on their legacy to showcase the value of dietitians as an integral member of the high-performance landscape.

Article reprinted with permission

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SDA is the peak professional body for Accredited Sports Dietitians, working with active Australians to achieve their health and performance goals with credible and expert sports nutrition advice.

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