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Team GB nutritionist Mitchell lauds Aldi's food support for young athletes

Aldi are backing SportsAid's young athletes with nutritional support
Aldi are backing SportsAid's young athletes with nutritional support (Aldi)

Aldi’s game-changing nutritional support for aspiring young athletes is more important now than ever before, according to food guru Nigel Mitchell, writes Tum Balogun.

Mitchell, a Team GB nutritionist, has almost three decades’ worth of experience working with athletes to create bespoke nutritional plans which aid their level of performance.

The nutritionist was speaking at Taste Kitchen workshop at Aldi’s Atherstone HQ, which provided athletes with valuable insight into fuelling an athlete’s body for training and competing, as well as top tips for recipes, batch cooking and eating on the go.

The workshop was part of Aldi’s Rising Stars initiative, which supports 20 young athletes by providing a financial award to help with training and competition costs, while also delivering personal development opportunities to many athletes through workshop sessions.

Mitchell, who was accompanied by fellow expert Jenny Tschiesche in delivering the session, explained why sourcing good, affordable food has never been more crucial in the modern era.

“I believe in feeding people real food,” he said.

“What I only really understand, and know now after over 20 years of research and clinical and applied experience, is the importance of whole and complete foods.

"Supermarkets like Aldi really provide an affordable opportunity for the consumer to look at getting excellent quality food at a much more affordable price.

"I think that that is so important in today's age, where people are much more price aware, but are also really wanting the quality of foods that they really need to get the range and in depth of nutrients.”

The Rising Stars athletes will receive financial support through Aldi, as well as a monthly food voucher, to fuel them through training, competitions and to future Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Aldi have a top 10 shopping list of affordable, healthy items recommended by Mitchell and Tschiesche – both of whom attended the event to help athletes develop a better understanding of what nutritious foods key for training, skills for cooking and how to maximise their monthly Aldi vouchers.

One of the day’s key messages was that eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming, with Tschiesche and Mitchell talking the athletes through multiple recipes throughout the day.

Mitchell has plenty of experience working with elite British athletes, having joined Team GB’s cross-country skiing team at the Winter Olympics in Beijing earlier this year.

He remarked on how impressed he was by the latest crop of talent coming through, adding: “To be honest with you, I have been absolutely blown away today.

"What we were really wanting to do today was to look at not only engendering information and education, but also looking at how we can look at some behavioural change that helps to support these athletes.

"Not only to be fitter, faster, stronger athletes, but also to be healthier, more rounded human beings as well.

"So, we've really tried to use a combination of chalk and talk type education, and practical experiences using real foods to demonstrate that they can get the nutrients that they need to be athletes and healthy.”

Aldi is the Official Supermarket Partner of Team GB and ParalympicsGB and have partnered with Team GB since 2015, ParalympicsGB since 2022 and will be supporting them through to Paris 2024