Nutritional Food to Optimise 28th SEA Games Athletes Performance

Nutritional Food to Optimise 28th SEA Games Athletes' Performance

The 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games has finalised the menu of all the dishes that will be given to athletes during their stay in Singapore at the Games Village. The ultimate aim is to ensure that each athlete is able to maximise their potential during trainings and competition during the games.

For two years, the Singapore Southeast Asian Games Organising Committee (SINGSOC), together with the Singapore Sports Institute and a team of industry experts, have worked together to develop a standardised menu. It was designed through extensive discussions between Chefs, Food and Beverage and hospitality personnel from the hotels that will be hosting the athletes during the games. Over 120 recipes were developed for the games and these dishes will be rotated daily at three meal times daily from 24 May to 18 June.

As a way for the athletes to experience more of Singapore, the menus will also have a distinct Singaporean flavour incorporated while simultaneously catering to the cultural, religious and individual needs of athletes competing in the games. Also, the athletes and our valued SEA Games volunteer workforce will eat off a menu designed with the same considerations at the venues, to help them retain their typically high energy levels and performances.

“Most would not give much thought to what athletes actually eat apart from pasta for energy and vegetables for vitamins, but diet plays an extremely important role for athletes from not only a nutritional aspect, but a motivational one as well. We have done everything that we can to ensure that every athlete will be able to have nutritional food that will optimise their performance. As host country, we also wanted to share Singaporean culture through the food they eat and give the athletes a memorable and lasting experience,” said Bob Gambardella, Chief of NOCs and Sport, SINGSOC.

“Careful planning and consideration has allowed for a wide variety of dishes with high and low fibre options for different sporting requirements as well as considerations for food allergies and options for religious and individual needs of athletes. The food was also designed to make sure the athletes have adequate carbohydrate and protein with minimal unnecessary fats while being more than just palatable to eat,” noted Dr Kirsty Fairbairn, Head of Sports Nutrition at the Singapore Sports Institute.

Extreme care was taken to ensure that athletes and volunteers are fed properly both at the respective hotels and at the venues with a high level of service and quality demanded from all involved.

The standardised menu will be rolled out to all 20 hotels hosting the athletes.