Three tonnes of tuna and 2400 pies: Australia’s Olympic team by the numbers
By Tom Decent
More than three tonnes of tuna, 10,000 muesli bars, 2400 pies and 20,000 shots of coffee will fuel Australia’s Olympic team over the coming weeks at Paris 2024.
The Australian Olympic Committee has released a detailed breakdown of quirky statistics about the team and the logistics behind the scenes.
Australia’s chef de mission, Anna Meares, said on Wednesday that a container ship carrying the team’s uniforms to France had crashed into another ship near Gibraltar.
The AOC was told there could be a 14-day delay in getting the uniforms to Paris, but a crisis had been avoided.
“No damage was done, which was great,” Meares said at her final press conference in Australia before the Olympics begin on July 27.
A total of 115,000 items of clothing have been provided for the team, including 5200 pairs of shoes inside 2100 uniform bags that will be distributed to athletes and staff.
Joe Ingles (left), Lauren Jackson and Patty Mills are heading to their fifth Olympics. Credit: Getty Images
The Olympic village will become the world’s biggest restaurant for the duration of the Games, as more than 15,000 athletes from 208 territories and nations consume more than 40,000 meals a day cooked by about 200 chefs.
Australia also has its own food for its athletes – 10,000 museli bars, 340 kilograms of rice and 3200 kilograms of tuna are expected to be consumed. That’s on top of 1400 kilograms of cereal, 9700 slushies and 2400 Four’N Twenty pies, among many other foods and beverages.
“Our logistics team has been very, very busy,” Meares said. “We’ve also booked over 3000 flights and booked over 21,000 nights of accommodation.
“All the equipment that’s being shipped includes horses, boats, pole vaults, rifles, let alone the food and the uniforms.”
Australia will send 460 athletes to the Games (256 women and 204 men), which is the highest percentage of women in Australia’s Olympic history, to compete in 33 sports.
“That is quite a change since the Australian Olympic team headed to Paris 100 years ago. There were 37 men and no women,” Meares said.
Half of Australia’s athletes (231) will be attending their first Olympics, while six – Patrick Mills, Lauren Jackson, Joe Ingles, Edwina Tops-Alexander, Eddie Ockenden and Melissa Wu – are set to feature at their fifth Games.
Shane Rose, 51, is the team’s oldest athlete (equestrian), while 14-year-old skateboarder Arisa Trew is the youngest.
The first of Australia’s athletes will arrive in Paris next week.
“As I’ve said to the athletes, my job is to deal with the shit. You get to have the fun stuff,” Meares said with a laugh.
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