Athletes have found the Winter Olympics' version of the viral chocolate muffin

We may be just hours away from the official Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, but the 2026 Games are well underway, with curling, ice dance, and snowboarding already taking centre stage.

The Milano-Cortina competition has already made headlines, what with athletes rejoicing in the fact that their beds in the village don’t appear to be made from paper, and that ‘Minionsgate’ has finally reached a satisfying conclusion.

The likes of Matt Smith, a skier representing South Africa, and Team USA snowboarder Jess Perlmutter have been praising the food on offer across the Games’ six Olympic villages.

In a press conference, the latter gushed that she’d eaten the ‘best pasta ever’ while residing at Camp, while Smith showed in a social media video that competitors could chow down on pizza for breakfast if they wanted to.

Another star who has been blowing up TikTok with her food reviews is Natalie Spooner, the 35-year-old Canadian Ice Hockey player.

The Ontario native, who has three Olympic medals under her belt, isn’t scheduled to be in action until Saturday when Canada takes on Sweden in the preliminary round.

When not in training or exploring the surrounding area, Spooner has been sharing what she’s been eating in the Milano-Cortina canteens with her 44,800 followers.

In the first food-related clip, she sampled various chocolates before moving on to trying a chocolate pudding and later cakes, which she rated ‘six and seven out of ten’.

In the video’s comments, social media users urged Spooner to find the viral chocolate lava cake.

The latter has been branded the Winter Olympics equivelent to the famous chocolate muffin which Norwegian Olympic swimmer Henrik Christiansen popularised at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

“Find the lava cake! someone posted they got it at dinner” replied one TikTok user.

On another clip, a second typed: “I really hope you find the lava cake.”

“Someone get her a lava cake stat,” replied a third.

The now-famous chocolate lava cake was previously shared online by Canadian Speed Skater Courtney Sarault.

She uploaded a video to TikTok with the caption: "Perhaps better than the viral chocolate muffin.. (yes I know it isn’t a muffin)’ on 3 February.

The 25-year-old’s clip has more than 2.5 million views on TikTok, and the Muffin Man himself has even weighed in on the dessert.

“Idk man, seems sketchy,” Christiansen, 29, joked.

Someone else said: “Henrik will be making an appearance at the winter Olympic village.”

And it appears that it isn’t just Spooner who wants to get her mitts on the coveted canteen item.

“Is it only available in the morning?? I haven't seen it,” commented American figure skater Amber Glenn.

Various Italians have also used the opportunity to correct fans of the new trend, informing them that instead of being called a ‘chocolate lava cake’, it’s actually a Tortino al cioccolato.

The fondant is traditionally made with dark chocolate, butter, caster sugar, milk, eggs, and a pinch of salt, according to Pasta Evangelists.