How Wrestler Adeline Gray Eats for the Olympics

The Olympics are here — neither Zika, nor heat wave, nor presidential impeachment, nor plumbing woes could keep this age-old competition from moving forward. We’re planning marathon Olympic-watching sessions, of course, but all these amazing athletes got us thinking about what it takes to fuel such terrific prowess — in the pool, on the field, in the ring. We asked 10 athletes to share what they eat on a daily basis. Here’s what we found out.

Age: 25
Hometown: Denver, CO
Event: Wrestling
Training Regimen: Four to five short but intense sessions, which include weights mixed with cardio, per week.

In April 2016 Adeline Gray, already a three-time world champion, took just 65 seconds to win her second qualifying match. The victory secured her a ticket to Rio and now she’s favored to win the gold.

This is a really big deal — not just for the Denver native, but for the United States. If she delivers as predicted, Adeline will bring home the first gold medal ever for the U.S. Women’s Wrestling team. No pressure, though — just a whole lot of intense training and plenty of calories.

“I need to eat a lot of food in order to keep my weight up, especially with all of the high-intensity training I am doing right now,” Adeline says. Working to keep weight on is probably a task most of us can’t identify with, but Adeline doesn’t just stuff her face with junk food.

A typical breakfast is oatmeal with seeds and fruit, but she occasionally has granola or even chicken for a nice protein boost.

For lunch, Adeline has either chicken or steak, along with a salad and a sweet potato. Her dinner is often also chicken or steak, but Adeline usually puts that protein into fajitas just to mix things up. That same meal will include a lot of bright vegetables and maybe even a pasta dish.

One of the Olympian’s favorite snacks is also sometimes her favorite meal. She says that she loves to make up a batch of Greek yogurt chicken salad because it’s high in protein and can be eaten as a sandwich, in a wrap, or even with crackers.

Because of her training, Adeline says she doesn’t stress too much about cheat foods. She just incorporates everything into her eating plan. “I love eating cookies. I get them from Subway or make my own banana trail mix ones,” she says. “I just run things by my nutritionist and we agree on what works and what doesn’t.”

Adeline says she plans to sample some açaí while in Rio, but there’s something more savory she’s looking to try. “I love eating meat and high-protein foods, so I am definitely excited to try out some of the barbecued meats for which Brazil is famous,” she says.

Watch Adeline Gray compete in Rio, when Women’s 75kg Freestyle Wrestling starts on Thursday, August 18.