Coach Jeaneth Aro is a practicing Registered Nutritionist-Dietitian and holds a Diploma in Sports Nutrition from the International Olympic Committee. She is the Philippine Centennial Team's nutritionist in preparation for Paris 2024.
The Olympic Games gather the best athletes from all over the world and the competition is usually decided by the slimmest of margins.
Naturally, this is why athletes try to maximize all the advantages they can muster in terms of training, recovery, and nutrition. The edges matter more so in the Olympics.
In the Philippines, sports nutrition is slowly being introduced to more and more athletes. For the Pre-Olympic Training Camp in Metz, France arranged by the Philippine Olympic Committee, the Philippine Centennial Team have a nutritionist who helps in the buildup, making sure our bets will be in top shape for Paris 2024.
“I’m primarily handling the boxing team through my engagement with ABAP (Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines). I’m also handling Caloy Yulo’s nutrition through GAP (Gymnastics Association of the Philippines),” Jeaneth Aro tells
One Sports.
“I’m also taking care of Elreen [Ando] on a personal capacity and since we’re here already, I also help out the entire delegation when they have questions about supplements and recovery,” she added.
Aro is a practicing Registered Nutritionist-Dietitian and holds a Diploma in Sports Nutrition from the International Olympic Committee. Throughout her career, she has worked with athletes from 20 different sports.
Notably, Aro was a member of Team HD when Hidilyn Diaz won the Philippines' first Olympic gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. Now, she’s working with Filipino athletes here in Metz to aid them in their preparations for Paris 2024.
A week into their stint here, the Philippine team have recovered well from their travel from Manila.
“Our food adjustments happened after our arrival. When we were traveling, we considered it as a free day since it is difficult to control food in the plane or during the layover,” Aro said.
“So far with the boxers, we don’t have problems with their weight so minor disruptions don’t have a big impact.”
The three boxing medalists from Tokyo are all coming back for more in Paris, and two of them will compete in a higher weight division. This was something that Aro had to take account of.
“With Carlo [Paalam], his body really matured. We did not have to put in a lot of effort on it,” Aro explained on Paalam’s preps, as the Tokyo 2020 silver medalist will compete at the -57kg class in Paris, up from his -52kg category in Tokyo.
“His body really just matured because he was still so young during the last Olympics. If you look at his body, he’s really in great shape. His muscle percentage is naturally high,” she added.
For Eumir Marcial, bronze medal winner in the -75kg category in Tokyo and will jump to -80kg in Paris, his preparations started way before, as it required correction in order to move up in weight properly.
“With Eumir, since I also work with him on the professional side of his career, we put in more effort into correcting his eating habits. Going up in weight is easy because that’s just calories in,” Aro said.
“But going up in weight correctly with regard to sports performance needed a bit of correction. We improved his macronutrient consumption, the timing of the food intake, and the supplementation to keep his muscle mass while cutting body fat.”
The challenge for Aro is that there is no one solution in nutrition for all athletes. They require different approaches not just in their macros, but even with the timing on when they begin their respective programs.
“When it comes to weightlifting, weight management is different because we start earlier,” she stated.
“Their program is unlike boxing because they can’t just to cardio to drop the weight. We need to maintain the quality of the food intake so they can maximize the burning of excess weight while going through rigorous training.”
With Ando dropping down from her old and discontinued weight class of 65-kg to 59-kg, she needs to work a little bit harder on the diet side as compared to before.
“Even if she was at 65-kg then, Elreen weighed in at around 63 [kilograms] for the competitions so it’s not that drastic. Right now she’s just one or two kilos over the limit.”
The training camp in Metz was planned to give the Filipino Olympians a lot of time to adjust to the time difference and climate, but it’s also an opportunity to adjust to the food.
“The food is really different but I talked to the caterer to try and modify the food that was being served to us,” Aro said.
“We coordinated with the POC and they accommodated the requests of the athletes. We supplemented their food. It could be as simple as boiled eggs. We went to the grocery with President Bambol [Tolentino] and he told me to get whatever the athletes needed.”
With less than a month to go before Paris 2024, there’s no time to waste for the Philippine Centennial Team. They train as hard as they can but the recovery aided by good nutrition is just as crucial.
“I learned so much from the world champions that I handled like Hidilyn Diaz, Mark Magsayo, and Jerwin Ancajas,” Aro stated.
“Even working with a PBA champion team like TNT allows me to really understand the needs of elite-level athletes. They know their capacity as world-class talents and they know the importance of nutrition. I just join them in their journey to becoming the best athlete they could possibly be.”
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Story Summary:
- Olympic Edge through Nutrition: Filipino athletes preparing for Paris 2024 benefit from specialized sports nutrition, ensuring peak performance and recovery during the Pre-Olympic Training Camp in Metz, France.
- Personalized Approach: Nutritionist Jeaneth Aro tailors plans for athletes like Carlo Paalam and Eumir Marcial, addressing weight changes and performance needs with customized diets and timing strategies.
- Impactful Support: With expertise from her expansive experience across various sports, notably with Team HD in the Tokyo Olympics, Aro's guidance enhances the Philippine Centennial Team's readiness, highlighting the role of nutrition in elite sports preparation.
[Editor's note: This article was written by a member of the One Sports Digital team. The summary was generated by AI, and then checked by the staff to ensure accuracy.]