Gluten-Free Olympic Athletes Go for Gold in London 2012

Wondering what US Olympic athletes are gluten-free and may win a gold medal in London 2012? Pole vaulter Jenn Suhr was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2011 and is the world’s top ranked female pole vaulter. Swimmer Dana Vollmer is gluten intolerant and also can’t eat eggs. She will compete in the 100m butterfly and 4x200m freestyle relay. Dana is the new spokesperson for Crunchmaster Crackers. To read about gluten-free Olympic athletes from other countries, visit About.com. View the Olympic schedule for these gluten-free athletes.

Update July 30, 2012 - Dana Vollmer won a Gold medal and set a world record in the 100m butterfly!

Update August 4, 2012 - Dana Vollmer won a total of three gold medals and set two world records! She competed in the 4x200 free relay and 4x100 medley relay.

Update August 6, 2012 - Jenn Suhr won a Gold medal in the pole vault!

Gluten-Free News: New Magazine, Protein Bars, Omni Hotels, and Much More

My gluten-free Google Alerts have been filled with positive gluten-free news over the last two weeks. From gluten-free menus at hotels to an Olympic pole vaulter with celiac disease, celiac awareness is increasing.  

Silvana Nardone, the founding editor-in-chief of Every Day with Rachael Ray, is now the editor-in-chief of the brand new Easy Eats digital magazine. The first issue of the beautiful magazine is completely free. Simply click on subscribe at the bottom of the page and choose special introductory deal. A one year subscription (6 issues) is $16. You can also sign up to be an Easy Eats recipe tester. The premiere issue has many recipes and a great article listing the Best Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread in a variety of categories. 

Speaking of magazines, Gorton’s is giving away 100 subscriptions to Living Without to celebrate their line of grilled fish fillets that are now gluten-free. 

NuGo Nutrition Debuts the First Almost Sugar-Free Protein Bar Without Maltitol or Artificial Sweeteners at Expo East. The new certified gluten-free bars have 15 grams of protein, 9 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of sugar from real dark chocolate and chicory root. Since I work for the company, I already sampled the new NuGO Slim bars. My daughter and I loved them!

Omni Hotels will be offering gluten-free breakfast buffet stations at all of their locations. Read about other hotels with gluten-free items in Hotels Go Gluten-Free. 

“Omni Hotels is rolling out a gluten-free breakfast buffet station companywide. The station will include gluten-free cereals, granola and a variety of breads and muffins. It has its own table—and toaster—to avoid cross-contamination with products containing wheat.

“We’re getting great positive feedback from our hotel guests on recognizing the importance of people with celiac disease,” says Rosenstock, who, personally, keeps gluten-free by choice and claims improved health as a result. “We’re getting letters from people who say they’ll always stay at Omni.” 

Rosenstock points out the gluten-free options don’t cost a hotel more money. It’s all about sourcing differently and planning for it.” 

A British home baker, Jennifer Buls of Absolute Treats, won the title of UK National Cupcake Champion with a lime and coconut cupcake. She bakes gluten-free, dairy-free, diabetic-friendly, and vegan cupcakes and has secured a permanent location for a tearoom in West Wales.  

There has been lots of coverage of the FDA’s proposed gluten-free labeling standards. A story was even featured on CBS News. For more information about submitting your comments to the FDA and to read what others are saying, visit Gluten-Free Living.

Jenn Suhr, an Olympic pole vaulter, was diagnosed with celiac disease this summer after “suffering leg cramps, dehydration and general weakness for months.” She competed last week at the World Athletics Championships in South Korea and finished fourth. Jenn is hoping to win Gold at the 2012 Olympics. 

Olympic runner Amy Yoder-Begley also has celiac disease and packed gluten-free food for the 2008 Olympics. She suffered for 10 years before being diagnosed with celiac disease. She is currently recovering from an injury and hopes to make it to London in 2012. It is so exciting to imagine celiac disease being mentioned during the 2012 Olympic broadcasts!

Kicking for Celiac and a Guinness Record

Craig Pinto will hold a unique fundraiser for celiac disease while attempting to break the Guinness record. The professional arena football player will kick field goals for 12 straight hours. To break the worldwide record, he will need to make 500 field goals! The event will take place on October 10, 2010, at Bethpage High School in Long Island, New York. Here is a quote from Craig, who is passionate about raising celiac awareness.

"Kicking footballs for this long seems physically challenging, but so is living with Celiac Disease everyday, and both can be done successfully."

To make a donation, visit the Kicking 4 Celiac website. All proceeds will go to the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University.

Gluten-Free Junior Olympian Wins Gold Medals

You may remember my blog post several months ago called, “Fourth Grader with Diabetes and Celiac Disease Qualifies for the Junior Olympics.” Well, this amazing young athlete, Sage Donnelly, won five gold medals in kayaking in the Junior Olympics recently held in North Carolina. She lives in Carson City, Nevada. Read all the details here.

“For the past two months, Sage and her parents have been on the road, living with their four dogs and a cat in the family van to compete in kayak competitions throughout the West. This was the first year they traveled back East to compete.”

Sage is only ten-years-old, but she has already accomplished a lot. Hopefully, we will see her in the Olympics when she is older! Here is some advice from Sage.

“If you have a disease or anything, you should not give up your dreams.”

This is an impressive video from May 2010 of Sage practicing.

Fourth-Grader with Diabetes and Celiac Disease Qualifies for the Junior Olympics

Sage Donnelly, a 9-year-old who lives in Nevada, will be competing in the Junior Olympics this summer in kayaking. She was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 3-years-old and celiac disease in 2008. She is also a vegetarian.

Like her parents, Sage is skilled at outdoor activities, including skiing and rock climbing. She hasn’t let her medical conditions slow her down. Sage is homeschooled and spends about half the year traveling to different rivers for kayaking competitions and practice. She is looking forward to kayaking in Mexico and hopes one day to win a gold medal in the Olympics.

Visit Sage’s terrific website, view her two recipes for gluten-free and diabetic friendly cookies, and become a fan on Facebook.

Video: High School Tennis Star with Celiac Disease

Watch this video of an award winning high school tennis star recently diagnosed with celiac disease. Brooke Ferslov-Jensen is a freshman who is the top player on the varsity tennis team at Sultana High School in California. She was diagnosed with celiac disease when she was in 8th grade.

Enjoy Crepes Like Olympic Skier Hannah Kearney

United States Olympic skier Hannah Kearney loves to cook crepes with a variety of fillings for her teammates. While the crepes she makes probably aren’t gluten-free, her fillings could be used in gluten-free crepes. Hannah’s crepes are described in the Olympic blogs.

"I like to make the batter ahead of time and I'll have one with an egg and avocado and cheese for breakfast, then I'll have one with turkey and cheese for lunch, and then one with spinach and mushrooms for dinner," says Kearney. "Then for dessert you go with peanut butter and honey or cream cheese and jam."
But how much nutritional value do crepes have?

"It depends how you cook them," says Susie Parker-Simmons, a sports dietician for the U.S. Olympic Committee. "With Hannah, she's very nutritionally
sound. She has very good nutritional practices and loves cooking, which is fantastic." Parker-Simmons says that because of the way she makes them-with less
oil and sugar than store-bought varieties-and the diversity of fillings, they're reasonably healthy.

There are many recipes for gluten-free crepes. This one uses a blend of several flours, and the kid in the video is adorable. So, whip up some gluten-free crepes, and eat like an Olympic athlete!