U.S. Olympic team eats burgers to win

ATHENS (Reuters) - Fuelled by a diet that includes cheeseburgers and chocolate chip cookies, the United States team will eat their way to victory at the Olympics if their chief caterer is to be believed.


"You might have seen a lot of media saying (the U.S. will win) 100 medals, well we feed them every day and I can tell you we are going home with more than 100 medals," said Terri Morman, director of food services for the U.S. team.


Morman said nothing was off limits for the competitors.


However, items like cheeseburgers are rotated on the daily menus together with healthier options such as chicken, fish and pasta to prevent them being eaten every day.


"Our philosophy on feeding athletes is there are no forbidden foods and everything has its appropriate place in the diet," she told reporters on Tuesday.


"We do have cheeseburgers on the menu but it's on a cycle. Hamburgers are an essential part of the daily diet, believe it or not...and we're still making America's favourite dessert, chocolate chip cookies."


Morman said the average U.S. competitor consumed around 5,000 calories daily, with weightlifters guzzling up to 10,000 -- four times the typical consumption of an ordinary person.


"When an athlete comes in and sees that chocolate chip cookie, he's pretty excited to be here," she added.