Russian figure skater Gleb Smolkin didn’t mince words while discussing the “monotonous” Italian cuisine being served to athletes at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Smolkin, who is representing Georgia with his partner and wife, Diana Davis, explained that he started feeling sick from eating pasta in the Village canteen.
“In the village, we haven’t found any Russian or Georgian cuisine — nothing of the kind,” Smolkin, 26, told the Fanpage website, per The Times.
“The food here is European and, for now, quite monotonous … Pasta is already starting to make my stomach churn.”
Elisabetta Salvadori, who is the head of food and drink for the Olympics, explained that there are options other than pasta for the athletes to choose from.
“Nobody is obliged to eat pasta,” Salvadori said. “There are always potatoes, rice and bread.”
The Olympic Village canteen is serving 1,500 athletes at the 2026 Winter Games.
Some Olympians have taken to social media with rave reviews of the food.
Dutchwoman Jutta Leerdam, Jake Paul’s fiancée, praised the pasta in the Village after she won the gold in the women’s 1,000m long track speed skating competition on Monday.
“[This Olympics] I ate a lot of carbs,” Leerdam said. “So much pasta, bread and oatmeal, mostly pasta.
“I’ve been eating that pasta here in Italy and they work.”
Leerdam also shared a TikTok video of a food tour inside the village.
It included vegetables, yogurt, fruit, oatmeal, pizza, pasta, fish and eggs.
