Natalie Spooner isn’t just on the Milan Cortina Olympics to bring home one other medal.
The Toronto hockey player is decided to benefit from her time on the Olympic Village — one bite at a time.
When she’s not on the ice, the 35-year-old has made it her mission to taste-test her way through the Games and share reviews on social media of a number of the things she eats, starting from chocolate pudding to pizza topped with potatoes.
“Why is there potato on a pizza? I assume in Canada we are saying, ‘Does pineapple belong on pizza?’” Spooner says in a single post, smiling as she takes a bite. “Here, it’s, ‘Does potato belong on pizza?’”
Related Videos
Last week, the International Olympic Committee said in a press release that greater than 10,800 meals are served each day across the three Olympic sites in Milan, Cortina and Predazzo. Within the Milan village alone, the kitchens serve around 3,000 eggs and 450 kilograms of pasta, the IOC said.
Get each day National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
The food within the Olympic Village has gone viral in additional ways than one. The IOC announced in October that it had created a special pasta noodle shaped just like the five Olympic rings.
The limited-edition dish was later served to the athletes within the village, leading to a flood of social media comments from fans calling for the pasta to be available for the general public to purchase.
But for Spooner, a self-proclaimed “chocolate monster,” the sweet treats are definitely the highlight of the Olympic Village cuisine.
“This could be one of the best thing yet that I’ve found,” Spooner says in a single video where she tries an Italian chocolate spread with a croissant. “That’s really good.”
One other post shows Spooner trying a chocolate lava cake, something she says is “famous” across the village.
“That is what I’ve been waiting for,” she says with a smile. “It’s gooey, it’s chocolatey … that is like hitting the spot without delay.”
But not every dessert gets a gold medal — in a single video, Spooner tries a chocolate soufflé, which she rates three out of 10.
“I might say this can be a hockey puck,” Spooner laughs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press