Listen Up: Swimmer’s videos of chocolate muffin steals the show at Paris Olympics
- ‘Olympic Muffin Man’ Henrik Christiansen has popularised this unassuming treat that was served at the Olympic Village
- Practise your English with our short listening exercises: play the audio; answer the questions; and check the answers at the bottom of the page
The chocolate muffins at the Olympic Village have become so popular that people have even tried recipes to recreate them. Photo: EPA-EFEQuestions
1. What does the gold medallist at the beginning of the podcast refer to?
A. cocoa bread
B. baguette
C. chocolate muffin
D. custard pie
2. Where did the athletes stay during the Olympic Games?
A. the Olympic Village
B. hotels in the city
C. training camps
D. information not given
3. How many stars did Christiansen give the muffin?
A. three
B. five
C. 10
D. 11
4. Which of the following can replace the term “fresh” in the podcast?
A. just-baked
B. brand-new
C. up-to-date
D. unprocessed
5. How is the cocoa bread different from a regular double chocolate French bread?
A. It had more sugar and less butter.
B. It had less sugar and butter.
C. It had more chocolate and less flour.
D. It had less chocolate and flour.
6. Why was the double chocolate French bread recipe modified for the Olympics?
A. to make it more appealing to the public
B. to make it affordable for young children
C. to make it healthier for athletes
D. to make it last longer
7. What does the French breakfast consist of?
A. croissants
B. fresh bread with butter and jam
C. pastries
D. all of the above
8. What activity did some athletes participate in at the bakery?
A. bread-making classes
B. yoga classes
C. swimming lessons
D. weightlifting sessions
9. How many baguettes did the bakers produce every day?
A. less than 100
B. slightly more than 500
C. almost 2,000
D. as many as 9,000
10. If something is “unrivalled”, it is ...
A. made with low-quality ingredients.
B. more costly than others of the same type.
C. greater and better than the rest.
D. not as popular as the rest.
11. Listen to the podcast again and complete the following summary.
The “Maxi Muffin Chocolat Intense” is a very popular chocolate muffin that people loved eating during the Paris Olympics. A Norwegian swimmer named Henrik Christiansen became known as the (i) “________” after he posted some videos about it. The muffin is filled and covered with dark (ii) ________ and has pieces of dark and (iii) ________ chocolate inside. The bakers in the Olympic Village made (iv) ________ of these muffins every day.
Answers
1. C
2. A
3. D
4. A
5. B
6. C
7. D
8. A
9. B
10. C
11. (i) muffin man; (ii) chocolate; (iii) milk; (iv) 4,000
Script
Adapted from Associated Press
Voice 1: The Olympics may be over, but the popularity of a chocolate muffin lives on. Freshly baked bread and a selection of French pastries were meant to be the stars of the Olympic Village, but the gold medallist was a surprise: an American-inspired chocolate muffin that has gone viral on social media.
Voice 2: Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen has been dubbed “muffin man” after he posted videos featuring the chocolate muffin, accumulating millions of views on social media. He gave it a rating of 11 out of 10 stars. Over the two and a half weeks he stayed at the Olympic Village, Christiansen ate “seven or eight” of these muffins known for their melted fudge centre.
Voice 1: A spokesperson for Sodexo Live, the company that handled the Olympic Village’s catering, confirmed the muffin’s name to be “Maxi Muffin Chocolat Intense” and said that it was filled and topped with dark chocolate, featuring chunks of dark chocolate and milk chocolate.
Voice 2: About 40,000 meals were served each day of the Games to thousands of athletes from more than 200 countries and territories who were staying in the Olympic Village. And the bakery became the meeting point for many.
Voice 1: The bakers produced fresh baguettes – added in 2022 to the UN’s list of intangible cultural heritage – and a variety of other bread cooked every day on site. The chief baker said it was unbelievable how quickly the athletes adopted the French habit of getting their fresh baguette every morning. Most had never tasted a baguette freshly out of the oven, and they were soon under the bread’s charm.
Voice 2: Another champion product was the cocoa bread, which was created for the Olympics. It is a piece of double chocolate French bread but with less sugar and butter to better fit with athletes’ diets. Some also tried the French breakfast: fresh bread with butter and jam, croissants and other pastries. Many athletes came to the bakery, including Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time. Some others took part in bread-making classes held every day.
Voice 1: Philipp Würz, head of catering for the Paris 2024 organising committee, said the village’s team of four bakers produced about 600 baguettes and 900 cocoa breads each day. These numbers exceeded initial plans because of growing demand. Unrivalled, though, were the chocolate muffins, which reached 4,000 per day. Other pastries included custard pie, vanilla tartlet and lemon tart.