Here’s how much food Michael Phelps went through between his Rio gold medal wins

Swimmers need a stack of calories to fuel their Olympic ambitions.

While most of us were tucked up in bed on Tuesday night, in Rio, Michael Phelps was adding to his already record-breaking haul in. The 31-year-old had already claimed his 19th Olympic gold medal on Sunday night, and followed it up with No.20 and 21 two days later. In between, Phelps went through a lot of food. Then he snacked. He then ate some more, swam, and ate again. After his late finish and press interviews on Sunday night, Phelps knew he would not return to the Olympic Village until the early hours of Monday morning [it ended up being 3am]. He would be back at the swimming venue for 8am for the 200m Butterfy preliminaries. So, after wrapping up his press briefing, Phelps headed back to get the grub in. He told Associated Press:

"I think I had a pound of pasta and spaghetti. And I’m not a spaghetti fan but I forced myself to eat it."

The pound of pasta is all part of a 12,000-calories-a-day diet that has helped Phelps to 21 Olympic golds and 26th medal in total. That heap of pasta is the norm for Phelps - part of a dinner plan that includes a whole pizza and IOC-approved energy drinks. As for breakfast and lunch, this is what the New York Post reported he put away at Beijing in 2008...

Breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of coffee. One five-egg omelette. One bowl of grits. Three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar. Three chocolate-chip pancakes. Lunch: One pound of enriched pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread. Energy drinks packing 1,000 calories.

We reckon it's the bowl of grits that works the treat.