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Adam Peaty says worms are being found in the food at Paris 2024 as he alleged a “narrative of sustainability” in the Olympic Village is failing athletes.
Peaty’s complaints have come to light as it emerged 800 metres gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson had avoided village food altogether amid catering concerns.
After finishing fourth in the 4x100m medley relay on the final evening of the swimming meet, Peaty, 29, hit out at both the quantity and quality of the food.
“I like my fish and people are finding worms in the fish,” he told the i newspaper. “It’s just not good enough. The standard, we’re looking at the best of the best in the world, and we’re feeding them not the best.”
Paris 2024 organisers are understood to deny worms have been found, but Peaty is among a host of athletes to raise concerns about the general standard of catering. As part of their extensive planning, the British Olympic Association had hired an entire catering college in nearby Clichy as a performance base and athletes including Hodgkinson have been avoiding the village in favour of the food cooked by the specialist Team GB chefs.
Olympic organisers had boasted of Michelin chefs but athletes have complained of shortages and insufficient quality, prompting them instead to flock to the private British performance lodge which is full of supplies from Aldi and a team of on-site chefs overseen by the sports nutritionist Wendy Martinson.
Peaty, 29, was in an outspoken mood as he claimed the team had been “blindsided” by the challenges of living in the village. “The catering isn’t good enough for the level the athletes are expected to perform,” he said.
“We need to give the best we possibly can. Tokyo, the food was incredible, Rio was incredible. But this time around […] there wasn’t enough protein options, long queues, waiting 30 minutes for food because there’s no queuing system. These [complaints] are for people to get better. And the organising committee, so we’ll put these back to our team in full depth and detail. But it’s definitely been the best Games in terms of fans engaged with it. So you’re never gonna have a perfect Games.”
After reading the claims made by Peaty, a Paris 2024 source urged caution over “more sensationalist claims”. “We have no information to be able to confirm the specific allegation,” a spokesman added. “⁠Team GB has confirmed that no such reports have been made to their staff.
“More generally, regarding food in the Village, our priority is to meet the needs of athletes from around the world to enable them to compete at their best. The 550 dishes on offer in the Dining Hall were developed together with the NOCs and the IOC over a period of more than a year.”
By Peaty’s high standards, it has been a difficult Games. He only won silver in the 100 metres breaststroke, testing positive for Covid the morning after. Peaty believes that pledges to make 60 per cent of all meals served at the Games meatless and a third plant-based have made it hard for many athletes to stick to their normal diet.
“The narrative of sustainability has just been punished [sic] on the athletes. I want to eat meat, I need meat to perform and that’s what I eat at home, so why should I change?” Peaty adds.
“I like my fish and people are finding worms in the fish. It’s just not good enough. The standard, we’re looking at the best of the best in the world, and we’re feeding them not the best. I just want people to get better at their roles and jobs. And I think that’s what the athletes are the best sounding board for.”
Hodgkinson’s coach Trevor Painter also said after her victory at the Stade de France on Monday that she had been avoiding the village food. “The BOA have got a lodge 15 minutes from the village so she’s been getting a lift across there to eat because it’s a good bit better than the village,” he said. “She’s not eaten a meal in the village.”
Paris 2024 said: “We are listening to the athletes and take their feedback very seriously. Since the opening of the village, our partner Sodexo Live! has been working proactively to adapt supplies to the growing use of the Olympic Village restaurants, as well as to the actual consumption by athletes observed over the first few days.
“As a result, the quantities of certain products have been significantly increased and additional staff have been deployed to ensure that the service runs smoothly.”
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