Pasta at will. But also many sweets, to get to take up to six to seven thousand calories every day, the equivalent of about twenty plates of lasagna.

What would be madness for mere mortals - and a sure cause of obesity (at least) - for cross-country skiing champions - one of the hardest disciplines of all - committed to the Beijing Winter Games is, on the other hand, the norm. The only way to be able to maintain the strength and energy needed in training and competition.

"I have something to eat every 15-20 minutes," says Canadian cross-country skier Remi Drolet, for example. Adding: "Just to make sure my muscle glycogen (a sort of glucose reserve, ed.) Is the fullest. possible".

And Irishman Thomas Maloney Westgaard is no less: “I eat up to 7000 calories a day. So many pasta dishes and desserts too. I love brownies, panna cotta and all sweet things, especially Norwegian chocolate. This keeps me going. "

“The needs of this sport are beyond comprehension for many people - explains Jessica La Roche, nutritionist for the US Olympic Team - They eat every two or three hours and you have to plan ahead. For example women, if they don't consume enough calories, you can see them have menstrual cycle and bone health disorders. "

Of course, even if the diet is extra-large, it is always good not to exceed the limits: "We need to eat a lot, but you can't overdo it either because you have to carry your weight up the hill", he points out, between the serious and the facetious, the British cross-country skier Andrew Musgrave.

(Unioneonline / lf)