For two weeks Paris became the epicenter of elite athletic competition as the Olympics brought thousands of players, coaches, family, and fans to the City of Light. Among those working at the games this year was Falk College alumna Maggie McCrudden, a Food & Nutrition Registered Dietitian for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. She graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in nutrition.
“My foundation was built at Syracuse,” McCrudden says, speaking from the Team USA High Performance Center (HPC), set up exclusively for Team USA to provide American athletes with a place to eat, train, relax, and get a reprieve from the stress and chaos of the games.
“They can do some recovery—whatever that looks like for them—and then we also have a lot of outdoor space, so people are in hammocks or on chairs and there are games. It’s like camp,” McCrudden says.
The HPC is about 20 minutes from the Olympic Village, featuring training facilities, meal options, sports medicine, private meeting spaces, recovery space, video review areas, and dorm accommodations. The complex includes pools, indoor and outdoor track and field equipment, strength and conditioning facilities, volleyball and basketball courts, fencing strips, and archery targets. McCrudden says the goal of the HPC was to provide a “home away from home” for the athletes.
McCrudden has worked for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee for three years, but this was her first time working at an Olympic games. She and a food service team from Colorado Springs prepared and packed pallets of USA-branded food specifically tailored to athletes’ preferences that were shipped to Paris ahead of the Olympics.
She says her education at Falk College and her experience as a collegiate athlete on the women’s rowing team put her on the path to success.
“Being a part of a major sports school and an athlete has helped me so much in my current role, because I feel like I have an understanding of what the athletes are going through,” McCrudden says. “I understand the ‘go, go, go’ mentality and sometimes just needing a little help.”
McCrudden ran into other members of the Orange family at the Olympics, including fellow Falk College alum and hurdler Freddie Crittenden III ’17 and her former rowing teammate Hattie Taylor ’17, who she watched win a bronze medal for Great Britain.
“I always say wear red, white, and blue but bleed Orange!” McCrudden says.
McCrudden will return to the U.S. after transitioning responsibilities to a colleague for the Paralympic Games, which run Aug. 28 through Sept. 28.