The Olympic Village in Paris was built with France’s important food traditions in mind. But the runaway hit among the world’s elite athletes is not a croissant or a baguette, but something more likely to be passed over at an American cafeteria.

The chocolate muffin has become the go-to treat for this year’s Olympians.

“They’re very rich, and I like that,” Henrik Christiansen, a Norwegian swimmer turned unofficial Olympic Muffin Man on TikTok, said in an interview. “Some people might find it too powerful, but they’re right up my alley.”

Christiansen, 27, came across the muffins while making a video to review meals at the Olympic Village. They were the first thing he tried. They “were just so incredibly delicious” that Christiansen said he decided to see if a series of videos highlighting his love for the muffins would take off.

A chocolate-smudged nose here, a love song there, Christiansen went all in. Things became a little tense when a muffin held him hostage in one video. Now, word has spread, inspiring other (rave) reviews, attempts at copycat recipes by TikTok creators and even a graphic designer’s take on a gold medal for the treats.

You might not associate athletes of Christiansen’s calibre with having dessert for breakfast. But as a three-time Olympian long-distance swimmer, Christiansen said he was always on the prowl for food that would help increase his daily calorie count. He just also happens to have a sweet tooth.

“There is a lot of misconception regarding athletes and what they eat — of course, some athletes, they do sports where their weight is carefully watched and it’s a lot more important,” Christiansen said. “On my most heavy training days, I can get up to almost 7,000 calories a day.

“It’s tough to have that many calories if you’re only having salad,” he added.

That’s not to say he’s not following a well-rounded diet that includes vegetables, fruits, carbohydrates and proteins with any of the rotating options of pizza, pasta, dumplings or French cuisine being served at the Olympic Village.

But he said he would never tire of the “incredibly moist” muffins, with their lava centres and chocolate chunks.

The chocolate muffins are just some of the more than 2,000 pastry items that are served daily at the Olympic Village boulangerie, which is operated by Sodexo Live, the French food-service company overseeing meal preparations for the Games.

A spokesperson for the company said the chefs were keeping the ingredients and recipe to themselves, but noted that they were sourcing 80 per cent of the total food supply at the Games from France and 25 per cent from farms within 155 miles of Paris, “so the muffins are certainly an authentic taste of France.”

The boulangerie is also making Olympic-ring baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolat and focaccia.

Looking for sweets during competitions is nothing new for Christiansen. As a full-time swimmer for the Norwegian national team, Christiansen travels 150 to 200 days a year and always searches for dessert options.

“I’m lucky enough to be able to indulge myself a lot more than maybe other people can because I need the calories that much more,” he said.

On Monday, Christiansen finished 25th overall in the 800-metre freestyle, and he will compete Saturday in the 1,500-meter freestyle before jumping in the Seine River for the 10-kilometre marathon swim.

But the Olympics weren’t always in the cards.

When he turned 14, he had to make a choice: An important swim meet took place the same weekend he was supposed to perform in a play. He chose the pool, but his acting experience has carried him through his athletic career and prepared him for the Olympic spotlight.

Christiansen grew up in Lillestrom, Norway, about 30 minutes outside Oslo, and he was always fond of being in the water. He started swimming competitively at six years old and started taking it seriously at 13. The better he got, the more fun he had. But as he pursued swimming, he was also active in theatre.

“When you’re competing here, in the Olympics, there are thousands of people in the stands just watching you compete, so it’s similar in a lot of ways,” he said.

It has also helped fuel his more creative side on TikTok.

“As athletes, we are often portrayed as machines that are just out there — we’re swimming and that’s all we do,” he said, adding that athletes don’t often get to show other sides of themselves. Social media has changed that.

“I feel like I’m getting to showcase my personality and do stuff that I enjoy, like making funny content,” he said. “I really like making people laugh.”

It’s not all muffins all the time. In fact, he has been caught cheating on the baked good, and said he would mostly eat the chocolate muffins when he had an idea for a TikTok.

He also loves ice cream — you might be able to guess his favourite flavour.

“Any ice cream is good,” he said. “But chocolate-flavoured ice cream might be my favourite.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.