The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s sport nutrition team is uniquely positioned to bring today’s best practices to the forefront. Each sport dietitian within the team brings a high level of expertise to the sports they support. They utilize science as the foundation for performance enhancement and health optimization, taking a food-first approach and tailoring nutrition advice for each individual athlete’s fueling, hydration, and recovery needs. 

USOPC sport dietitians play a collaborative role in ensuring athletes’ needs are met both on and off the field. Visit a training location to see sport dietitians collaborating with food service managers to serve fresh, healthy and performance-based menus. Sport dietitians also travel with Team USA athletes to training and competition venues to monitor nutrition-related parameters and reinforce sport nutrition practices, both at home and on the road. They also interact and consult with other USOPC high performance staff such as sport psychology, strength and conditioning, sports medicine and physiology to create a team approach to supporting the athlete’s health and performance goals.

The sport dietitians at the USOPC have put together a variety of education materials for athletes, coaches and parents to learn more about sport-specific diet, travel nutrition and eating guidelines as well as a range of performance-focused, easy to make and delicious recipes.

Sport Nutrition Registry

Qualified athletes can be referred to sport nutrition providers via the USOPC’s sport nutrition registry. Providers are available nationwide and screened by the USOPC for education and credentials in sport nutrition. Athletes do not have to be eligible for Elite Athlete Health Insurance to ask for a local Sport Nutrition Registry referral.

Providers typically charge for services and it is the athlete’s responsibility to discuss costs directly with the provider.

Providers: The USOPC’s sport nutrition registry is a list of vetted sport nutrition providers who serve as referral resources for Olympic and Paralympic athletes and NBGs. To be considered for the registry, providers must:

• Be a Registered Dietitian (RD).
• Have a minimum of two years’ experience working with Olympic, Paralympic, collegiate, professional and/or competitive recreational athletes.
• Have professional liability insurance.
• Have two professional references within the field of sport (coach, team manager, RD, etc.).

Although not required for acceptance into the registry, the following qualifications for applicants will be reviewed and considered: 

• Have a master’s degree of higher in nutrition or exercise science (or similar, e.g. IOC Diploma in Sport Nutrition).
• Be a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD).
• Have excellent presentation and communication skills.

To apply to be part of the registry, please visit the TeamUSA.org portal or contact cssportscience@usopc.org for more information. 

Athlete Eating Guidelines

Athlete Plates - Easy Day 
Athlete Plates - Moderate Day
Athlete Plates - Hard Day

Sport Nutrition Factsheets