Especially those coming from rural areas in Asia and Africa.

The are expending massive amounts of calories and they need to eat massive amounts of calories when training and in competition.

The Micheal Phelps’ Unofficial Diet Plan


Breakfast
Starting off his day by three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.

He follows that up with two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes.

Lunch
Phelps gobbles up a pound of enriched pasta and two large ham and cheese sandwiches slathered with mayo on white bread – capping off the meal by chugging about 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

Dinner
Phelps really loads up on the carbs – what he needs to give him plenty of energy for his five-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week regimen – with a pound of pasta and an entire pizza. (src)

Then he “washes all that down with another 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.” That’s a grand total of 4,000 calories a day; a whopping amount by civilian standards.

But apparently the perfect mix for a world class athlete

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This is what you have to eat to compete in the Tour de France

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/racing/tour-de-france/this-is-what-you-have-to-eat-to-compete-in-the-tour-de-france-182775
Guzzling around 6,000 calories a day might sound blissful, but the reality of consuming such huge quantities of food day in, day out for three weeks presents one of the biggest challenges for the riders.

“Nutrient-dense foods are needed to remove the bulk of large volumes of food, to make it easier for riders to maintain energy balance and get enough nutrients,” says Mäder.

So bulky salads and vegetables are swapped for fresh fruit and vegetable juices, and carbohydrate powders are stirred into food and drink to increase calories.

The amount of food needed is close to the body’s maximum capacity for digestion, so failure to keep up with the enormous calorie intake can spell disaster, because playing catch-up is near impossible. And ending up in calorie deficit is a no-no because riders risk losing precious muscle.

To keep up a regimen like his, I'm not surprised.

He will have to cut WAY back though if he stops swimming. Otherwise, he will put on a lot of weight.

If I ate like that, all those calories would go straight to my gut and my ass, but someone like Michael Phelps will burn through them.

Michael Phelps upon learning that there is only vegan mayo left:

1 Big Mac as fast as possible. Phelps could basically inhale one. This guy beat him.

This was in Athens in 2004.

...unlike us couch potatoes. Back in 2008 I remember reading that Michael Phelps eats something like 6,000 calories a day!

It's party time. From what I understand they party their asses off.