KEY POINTS:
Potential food bans at the Beijing Olympics will not cause any concern for the New Zealand Olympic Committee, who say their only secret weapon is a specially formulated powdered sports drink that will be cleared for use.
Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) has implemented strict
controls around the importation of food, causing concern in Australia, as they have already sent a container ship packed with foods and hope to send another loaded with iconic foods such as Vegemite.
However, NZOC chef de mission Dave Currie said his team was comfortable with the rules and their 40-foot container, which leaves Auckland at the end of this month, will have only supplementary foods. The rest is ice jackets, chilly bins, computers, stationary bikes and decorations for the village.
However, there will be tubs of powder they hope will be New Zealand's secret weapon.
Sports scientist Dr Richard Young from Sparc's Academy of Sport in Dunedin has spent months formulating a drink to give our athletes optimum hydration in Beijing.
"It's a hot air environment so we've got specially formulated drinks to deal with that. It is going to be a wet heat and people are going to lose more liquid and we've got a strategy around that. We've done a lot of work on that and that's the most important stuff we're taking over," said Currie.
"Richard Young has been running a programme for us. They have been working with the sports and have created an event-specific formula for individual sports."
It's the first time the NZOC have taken such a tailored approach to rehydration and gives an indication of what they feel will be the most important aspect of keeping athletes at a peak for a sustained period in the cloying conditions.
"There's a matrix of who's using what, where, how and why," Currie said.
On the other hand, he did not expect food to be an issue, despite the fact they were taking thousands of "power bars" to China to give to athletes in the minutes immediately after training and competing.
"We're not really taking any food up in that sense," said Currie. "We're going to be eating in the food hall and eating the food that is there. The things we're taking are really only supplementary things. We're not taking up any fine New Zealand lamb and beef.
"There are no cooking facilities in the rooms. They have a dining hall that seats 5000 people at a time and goes 24 hours a day. It covers every ethnic and religious requirement. The variety is extraordinary; the attention to detail and quality control is mind-boggling. It's not as if we're going over and having to eat Chinese food every day."
Currie's attitude is in contrast to that of Australia and the United States. Australian Olympic team nutritionist Professor Louise Burke was quoted as saying foods supplied by team sponsors such as Uncle Toby's was crucial because they provided familiarity in the heat of competition.
The US Olympic Committee created uproar when it publicised plans to transport its own food because of fears about China's health and food standards.
Currie is not sympathetic: "If you can't get Marmite in and Vegemite, well, it isn't going to make the difference. If that's the difference between whether you win or not, you're in big trouble."
