Athletes performing at the Olympic Games need a nutritious diet that suits their taste to perform their best. We all know how balanced meals with enough protein, carbohydrates, and vitamins help us stay strong and energized. However, Indian athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics have been having trouble with the food that is being served in the Games Village.
The Indian shooting contingent, especially those who are vegetarian, had to make do with just daal and rice. This was not meeting their dietary needs.
“I only eat vegetarian food on Saturdays and they don’t serve that in the Village. They have fish or eggs in their vegan spreads. Everything is so bland so we found this restaurant and it serves good food,” trap shooter Prithviraj told The Tribune from Chateauroux.
The Indian shooters did some digging on Google and found a restaurant named Taj Mahal run by a Pakistani man named Atif Noman. The trap team, which includes Prithviraj Tondaiman, Shreyasi Singh and Rajeshwari Kumari, and a few from the rifle team decided to flock there to have food that meets their dietary needs.
The team reportedly have at least one full meal there. Their standard order includes palak daal, chicken and fish biryani. The owner, Atif Noman, has become a friend of theirs and sometimes, the athletes place their order before even reaching there.
“They have been coming here for a few days now. It feels good, Indians hai, zabaan apni hai, gup shup bhi ho jati hai isi bahane (We speak the same language and so we can chat also),” Noman, who hails from Punjab in Pakistan, said.
“To be fair to the organisers, they do not have this concept of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. So we found this place and everyone is flocking to this place. The other day, I found high-performance director Dr Pierre Beauchamp and a few shooters there,” revealed Trap team’s Prithviraj.
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It is incredibly heartwarming to see people, irrespective of their nations, unite in times of need. 🙂