Food provision for Team GB athletes 'improving' amid reports of shortages and raw meat being served

Entrance of the canteen serving athletes at the Olympic Village Credit: AP

The food provision for Team GB athletes at the Olympics Village is said to be "improving" after reports of shortages and raw meat being served.

High protein items, including eggs and chicken, were reportedly being rationed at the athletes' base in Paris, with Andy Anson, the British Olympic Association’s chief executive, telling The Times the food was "not adequate" and a "dramatic" improvement was needed.

He said: "There are not enough of certain foods: eggs, chicken, certain carbohydrates, and then there is the quality of the food, with raw meat being served to athletes. They have got to improve it over the next couple of days dramatically.

"Our athletes have decided they would rather go and eat in our performance lodge in Clichy, so we are having to get another chef to come over as the demand is far exceeding what we thought it would be.

"The athletes are not going there just to eat their lunch, they are packing meals for their dinner as they don’t want to go into the athlete restaurant to eat. So we are trying to make sure our athletes have an advantage by having more food. It is the biggest issue at the moment."

Team GB are also understood to have flown out an additional chef to cope with the additional demand for meals at Team GB's HQ.

The canteen at the Olympic Village caters for 15,000 athletes with 200 cooks set to prepare one million meals during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to Paris 2024. The canteen can serve up to 40,000 meals a day.

The British Olympic Association has since told ITV News the situation is "improving and being attended to by Paris 2024."

A spokesman told French news outlet L’Equipe that they "take very seriously" the feedback from athletes and are "working to increase our supplies to the restaurants in the athletes' village".

They added that eggs and grilled meats are "particularly popular," so volumes have been increased to meet the athletes' needs.

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