Eat like a Summer Games athlete

Carmelita Jeter — Olympic sprinter

The world’s fastest woman, Carmelita Jeter, is a track and field world champion who keeps herself in elite sprinting shape by watching what she eats and training hard.

Jeter’s speed and physical fitness are a testament to her training. The sprinter knows her body and how to fuel it for performance. She says she pays close attention to her diet while training and enjoys her carbs. “I usually eat some sort of carbs after training — my favorite is pasta,” the Olympian explains. “During competition my diet is a little bit more regimented and includes mostly chicken and rice. My diet philosophy is to train hard and work at meeting my goals so I can reward myself with the types of foods I want to eat when I am not training.”

When you start to pay attention to your diet and how it affects your workouts, you can learn which foods give you the most energy and help you recover. Jeter has a few faves that are part of her training regimen: “I cannot live without my granola bars before a race and my Muscle Milk for after. I love eating my cinnamon Wheaties for breakfast.” The Olympian also digs into fresh fruit, chicken tacos and pasta with vegetables.

More diet tips to eat like an athlete

Olympian Kerry Walsh shares her top diet tips
Gold medal diet tips from Natalie Coughlin
The best fitness foods to fuel your muscles