The greatest American gymnast of all time thinks the food at the Paris Olympics isn’t worthy of a gold medal.
On Aug. 1, 27-year-old Simone Biles took the gold in the all-around and became the oldest champion in 72 years. She now has six gold medals in her Olympic career, the most of any U.S. gymnast.
While Biles was smiling brightly at the Olympic podium, she’s been a bit more critical about the food offered at the Olympic Village.
Back on July 26, after Biles arrived in Paris, she started sharing an inside look at her experience on social media. In addition to showing us fun pre-competition moments and what she dislikes about the Olympic Village beds, she shared what she does love about France: the pastries.
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“Spectacular, give me 14 of them right now,” Biles lip-syncs in a video, using the popular sound from TikTok account @60somethinglife. She holds a pastry wrapped in plastic and takes a bite on camera.
Biles captioned the now-viral video: “give me all the desserts 🥖🍡🧁🍭🍩🍨🍫🍰.”
The post has since garnered more than 17 million views and 6,000 comments, many of which were well wishes for the gymnastics G.O.A.T. Still, some comments came directly from culinary enthusiasts who had thoughts about her choice in pastry.
“Girl let’s get you to a boulangerie 💯,” one TikTok user commented.
“They’re good but bring her pains au chocolat from une boulangerie 🔥🔥🥹,” commented another. “Right! 🤣 I’m like surely someone in Paris can bake some fresh chocolate croissants for her!” exclaimed someone else. “This is a crime!”
Luckily for these pastry elitists, head coach Cécile Canqueteau-Landi reportedly said on Instagram that “Freshly baked pain au chocolat were delivered to Simone this morning,” according to NBC Sports.
At a July 30 press conference, after Biles and the rest of the Golden Girls came out on top for the women’s team gymnastics event, a reporter asked the athletes what they had been eating at the Olympic Village and if they were enjoying French food.
After the five gymnasts hesitated to answer, Biles offered her opinion: “OK, here’s the thing, I don’t think we’re having proper French cuisine in the village like you guys might be eating because you’re outside the village. For the athletes, it’s a little bit, healthier.”
“I don’t think it’s very good, at least what we’re having in the dining hall,” teammate Hezly Rivera said in a more critical response. “I definitely think French food is good, but what we’re having in there, I don’t think it’s the best but it gets the job done.”
Though, Biles added that she “thought the pizza was good.”
French catering company Sodexo Live is in charge of feeding an estimated 40,000 meals a day to 15,000 people for the games.
In addition to the viral chocolate muffin made popular by, Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen, Olympians have been sharing their Olympic Village eats on social media, including chicken, fruit, and carbohydrates like croissants and crepes.
There have also been reports of food shortages at the Village, with athletes telling French newspaper L’Equipe that the cafeteria was rationing eggs. Some decided to avoid the dining hall altogether — American swimmers Abbey Weitzeil and Phoebe Bacon called it a “scary” place and opted to cook their own ham and cheese sandwiches on an electric skillet on their building’s roof.
On July 29, Paris Olympics organizers said they had fixed early logistical issues with the supply chain, Reuters reported. On June 30, a spokesperson for Sodexo Live told TODAY.com that it had increased the quantities of items that are popular among athletes, including eggs and grilled meats. “Since then, the quantities offered for these products were adapted accordingly and have been sufficient to meet all needs,” the representative said.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
