Winter Olympics Athletes Eat Like European Royalty In First Look At Milan-Cortina Cafeterias

The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic games begin this week. One fun tradition on social media from recent Olympic Games is seeing all of the incredible foods athletes get to eat inside the cafeterias.

The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing or the 2024 Paris Summer Games present a stark contrast to the Milan-Cortina games, for many reasons. Not the least of which is the athlete accommodations are already a massive upgrade for those staying in the Olympic Village. It appears the food will also be incredible this year as well.

First Look Inside Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics Cafeterias For Athletes

To be clear, it wasn’t as if the Summer Games athletes in Paris were eating like peasants. The Norwegian swimmer’s obsession with the double chocolate muffins made them a global sensation. Paris is a global food capital. Everyone knows this… But it’s not Italy.

Northern Italy, where the Milan-Cortina games are being held, is known best for rich and hearty dishes. Risotto, Osso Buco, creamy cheeses, these are all staples of Northern Italian cuisine and athletes should anticipate gaining a pound or two during their stay because the food looks incredible.

Matt Smith is a tech entrepreneur competing in Cross-Country skiing for South Africa. He goes by the nickname ‘snowbok’ and has already started uploading daily food vlogs from the athlete cafeterias.

For breakfast, he shows off all the cereals, coffee, pizza and pasta because this is Italy after all, every bread type under the sun, eggs, bacon, yogurts, grains, pastries galore, all different types of milk. This is where all of the athletes eat so they try and be accommodating to people coming from all across the globe:

That’s fine and all, but lacking the ‘wow factor’ for the most part. On the same day, he rated the lasagna and pizza. From the outside looking in, that pizza look pedestrian but he rates it an 8.5. The cheese grated right off the wheel is a very nice touch though.

The Chocolate!

We can’t rely entirely on his reviews though so let’s bounce over to Canadian Women’s Hockey player Natalie Spooner. She has been reviewing the various chocolates she has come across so far, pudding and chocolate bars. Natalie has earned the nickname ‘chocolate monster’ due to her affinity for chocolate and she is raving about the chocolate options available so far in Milan.

First up, the bar:

Natalie also reviewed the standard chocolate pudding served in plastic cups. You can see that here. Spoiler alert: it’s great.

Team USA ice dancer Christina Carreira believes they found it. And by ‘it’ I am of course referring to “the new chocolate muffin.” Her words, not mine. Whatever this is, I need to try it ASAP:

There are other various videos of athletes showing ‘unlimited vending machines’ where they can get whatever they want, as much as they want, from the vending machines. Which is a reminder of how funny it is they put the fittest athletes on earth in these tiny confined villages, give them as much food as they can possibly consume (if they want) all while the athletes themselves have been maintaining the strictest of diets for years. It is like they want them to get fat right before the podium.

In total, there are six Olympic Villages for the Milan-Cortina Games. They are the Anterselva Olympic Village, Anterselva Olympic Village, Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympic Village (main village), Livigno Olympic Village, Milano Olympic Village (main village), and the Predazzo Olympic Village. From top to bottom, everything at the 2026 Winter Olympics seems to be stellar so far for the athletes.