Olympics-French 'cuisine' in athletes' village gets thumbs-down from Biles

By Chang-Ran Kim

PARIS (Reuters) - Paris Olympics' catering service might need a touch of Simone Biles' magic.

Adding to the early criticism about the quality and quantity of the food at the Olympic Village, the queen of gymnastics gave the French offerings there a thumbs-down, opining that athletes would need to get out to enjoy the "real" local cuisine.

Her comment came at a press conference following the U.S. women's gold-medal win in the team gymnastics event on Tuesday, where a reporter asked the five gymnasts what they were eating and whether they were enjoying French food.

Hesitating, the women looked at each other before Biles stepped in to offer a sugar-coated response.

"OK, here's the thing. I don't think we're having proper French cuisine in the village like you guys might be eating because you're outside the village," she said.

"For the athletes it's a little bit... healthier."

Teammate Hezly Rivera was more direct, clearly itching to speak her mind.

"I don't think it's very good, at least what we're having in the dining hall," the 16-year-old said. "I definitely think French food is good, but what we're having in there, I don't think it's the best. But it gets the job done," she joked.

"I thought the pizza was good," Biles jumped in, diplomatically.

Using the more than 600 tonnes of fresh produce provided by Carrefour, catering firm Sodexo is in charge of providing an estimated 40,000 meals a day to 15,000 athletes in the Olympic Village.

Organisers had promised fresh produce mostly made in France, with a focus on local and organic products and more vegetarian options. The criticism, including a paucity of meat, soon prompted Paris Olympics organisers to respond with a fix.

Still, Biles was likely partaking in some delectable pastries that Paris had to offer.

"Everyone can calm down!" an Instagram post by head coach Cecile Landi earlier in the day read, accompanied by a photo of a basket of chocolate croissants. "Freshly baked pain au chocolat were delivered to Simone this morning."

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, editing by Pritha Sarkar)