My first time in Paris was when I was 18 years old. My sisters and I were there for three days, and as the older brother, I was in charge of planning our itinerary and taking care of them.

One of the must-do experiences on my list was a visit to Roland Garros, the venue of one of the four tennis Grand Slams. As an irrational tennis fan, I couldn’t miss the chance to step onto Philippe Chatrier Court, where so many historic tennis games had been played.

That morning, my excitement levels were higher than the Eiffel Tower — the most famous and tallest building in Paris. Our hotel was so far from the city center that it didn’t even appear on the broadest tourist maps. To reach Roland Garros, we had to start our journey at Robespierre Metro Station and cross Paris to the opposite side of the city.

Thankfully, we only had to stay on the light green-coloured Metro Line 9. It was our second day in the city, and navigating the complex metro system felt as intimidating as getting lost in a foreign suburb without speaking a word of French. Back then, digital maps were only available on computers, so the most detailed paper map was the best travel companion anyone could have.

We made it. We got off at Michel-Ange Molitor Station and walked through the fancy, tree-lined Boulevard d'Auteuil until we reached 2 Av. Gordon Bennett. With every step, I felt like I could already breathe in the scent of the iconic orange clay.

At 10 AM, our tour began. Our guide led the small group through the different courts, narrating the history of the stadium and the tennis legends who had left their mark there. Statues of the Four Musketeers—France’s legendary tennis players—and Rafael Nadal, the King of Clay and record holder for most Roland Garros titles, stood as silent guardians of the venue.

Visiting in August, months away from the tournament’s date, the silence inside the usually roaring stadium was surreal. But what struck me the most was getting a glimpse behind the scenes, where all the action I watched on TV happened.

At the time, I was already interested in sports nutrition. Stepping into the players' restaurant, I was captivated by how well-organized the food court was. Our guide led us to "Restaurant des Joueurs Philippe Chatrier," the main dining hall for players. Bright and spacious, it was where the biggest names in tennis fueled up before their matches. I could almost picture Guillermo Coria and Gastón Gaudio having their last meal before their gruelling 2004 French Open final, which lasted over three and a half hours.

I later learned that Roland Garros had two more restaurants: one inside Suzanne-Lenglen Court, the largest dining facility, and a smaller, more intimate one at Jean-Bouin Club, just minutes from the main venue. So, when Roland Garros was chosen as a tennis venue for the Paris 2024 Olympics, I was instantly drawn back to that players' restaurant. It made me wonder how much Olympic food service had evolved over the years.

The evolution of Olympic dining

Beyond the stadiums, athletes during the Olympics live in the Olympic Village, where dining halls have transformed from modest beginnings into one of the world's most sophisticated mass catering operations.

The first Olympic Village restaurant was built for the 1924 Paris Games. Inspired by Pierre de Coubertin1, co-founder of the International Olympic Committee, every host city was required to provide “athletes with accommodation, bedding and food, at a fixed rate which shall be set beforehand per person and day2.” At those 1924 games, three meals per day were served to the 3,089 participating athletes in a shared dining area to foster a sense of community among competitors.

The 1948 London Games took the organization to another level. Nations were grouped based on their dietary needs—South American and Spanish athletes ate together, while French, Scandinavian, and North American delegations were placed in different dining sections. Food was prepared by four major catering contractors across 25 different kitchens, unlike today, when Sodexo was the sole contractor for Paris 2024.

Each Olympic Game became an opportunity to refine logistics and showcase local cuisine. The 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the first Games held in Asia, revolutionized Olympic food service. Tokyo was the first host city to introduce frozen food for efficiency, serving 7,000 athletes and officials with a centralized kitchen system that pre-cooked ingredients before distributing them to multiple locations. This advancement in logistics came from renowned chefs working in hotels, as the hospitality industry has always been an intrinsic part of hosting a game.

However, for nearly a century, Olympic dining focused more on food service logistics than athlete nutrition. I believe this was largely because sports nutrition research was still in its infancy until the 1960s.

The nutrition revolution: Sydney 2000

The Sydney 2000 Olympics marked a turning point. It was the first time sports nutritionists played an active role in menu planning. Dietitians worked to design meal plans that met the nutritional demands of different sports and individual athletes.

Since then, Olympic food service has prioritized quality, variety, and athlete performance. When Tokyo hosted its second Olympics in 2021, it went from pioneering frozen food in 1964 to running a 24/7 Olympic dining operation serving 45,000 meals per day with over 700 menu options.

A look ahead to Los Angeles

Last year, as I watched the elegant Paris 2024 Games unfold, I couldn’t help but think back to my visit to Roland Garros. Walking through that players’ restaurant, imagining the greats of the game refuelling before a match, I had no idea how much Olympic dining halls had evolved over the decades.

From the simple meal offerings of Paris in 1924 to today’s cutting-edge, 24/7 nutrition hubs, food has become an essential pillar of athletic success. Each Olympic Games builds upon the last, raising the standard for international sporting events. Today, modern Olympic Village dining halls represent the pinnacle of large-scale athletic catering.

As someone who appreciates the journey of food and sport through time, I can’t wait to see what Los Angeles 2028 will bring to the table—quite literally.

Notes

1 Pierre de Coubertin: The colossal legacy of a forgotten hero at the official Olympics website.
2 How the Olympic Village Evolved From Makeshift Cabins to a City Within a City on Smithsonian magazine.