PARIS – When the Greek runner Spiros Louis lit the flame under the Olympic ideal by winning the first marathon in the 1896 Olympics, he did it fuelled on a traditional Mediterranean diet.
He was a water-carrier by trade but reports of that historic first marathon — which did indeed start in the town of Marathon — tell of a pitstop he made when he was on the outskirts of Athens.
He stopped to say hello to his girlfriend and drink a glass of red wine.
Things have changed a little bit since then and it is hard to imagine what Louis, or his girlfriend, would have to say about a modern dietary regime for athletes that…