How Many Calories Winter Olympians Consume

As you can see from this chart, the events of the Winter Games have widely varying energy requirements. Cross country skiers have a long way to go without the aid of gravity. Yeah, cross country skiing has hills, but you have to go up as much as down. They also have to battle hypothermia in their time-consuming races. But other sports mean cutting back on food, beieve it or not.

Ski jumpers, for example, are at the very low end of the spectrum, eating as little as 1,300 calories per day.

“They come from a large height, come down, and fly as far as they can, so they have to weigh extremely light. The lighter you are, you fly farther,” said Susie Parker Simmons, one of two senior sports nutritionists with the United States Olympic Committee.

These men and women typically weigh up to 10 or more pounds less in the days before competition compared to their typical bodyweight, so that means restricting their calories to eat even less than their bodies might burn. Ditto for figure skaters, who need to ensure they’re light and agile enough to jump and glide across the ice.

Events also differ in the type of diet they require: protein or carbs? Find out what Olympics athletes eat to prepare for the Winter Games at Vox. -via Digg

(Image credit: Christina Animashaun/Vox)