When it comes to sporting events, none is as globally revered as the Olympics. Held every four years, the games bring together different cultures, fierce competition, and, of course, celebration. No celebration is complete without a cocktail in hand, and between clinking glasses of French 75s and Champs-Élysées to commemorate the Games’ host city, we decided every Olympic sporting event has a classic cocktail it could easily claim as its own.
Take gymnastics, for example, where athletes catapult as high as 12 feet in the air to throw stunning tricks that defy gravity. Sound like a Death Flip to anyone else? There’s also surfing (a newbie in the Olympic Games) to consider, which can easily be represented by the Mai Tai — a Tahitian classic from the same region where the sport was invented.
Curious to see what your favorite Olympic event would be in cocktail form? Check out our list of the 13 major Olympic sports and their respective cocktails below.
Artistic Gymnastics: The Death Flip
With Simone Biles regularly landing the most difficult tricks in the sport’s history, gymnastics would most certainly own the Death Flip. (Seriously, the Biles 2 and the triple-twisting double back on the floor don’t look like anything we’d be able to survive.) Not only is the cocktail’s name appropriate for representing one of the most watched Olympic sports, but its global list of ingredients is, too. There’s tequila from Mexico, yellow Chartreuse from France, and Germany’s Jägermeister to booze things up while simple syrup and an egg white round things out.
Athletics: Espresso Martini
Things move fast in athletics, an event more commonly known as track and field. Like, 100-meters-in-10.65-seconds fast. So, if the sport were a cocktail, it would need to be one that can help you keep pace. Luckily, the Espresso Martini exists. With a full shot of espresso shaken into each build, drink one (or three) of these and you might feel speedy enough to keep up with Sha’Carri Richardson. Who are we kidding? Nobody is catching her.
Basketball: The Air Mail
It’s highly unlikely you’ll see an airball at the Olympics, so we’re suggesting the Air Mail in its place. The cocktail combines gold rum, lime juice, honey syrup, and Champagne or sparkling wine, but since these games are held in Paris, we recommend opting for the French sparkler.
Beach Volleyball: The Right Hand
Beach volleyball is a sport played in pairs, with every competitor relying on their right-hand man’s teamwork to get the ball over the net. As the sister cocktail to Sam Ross’s Left Hand, this cocktail fuses Campari, sweet vermouth, and mole bitters with aged rum — the best spirit to drink on the sand.
Cycling: Road: The Bicicletta
The most important apparatus in cycling is obviously the bicycle, so the Bicicletta feels like a no-brainer here. The white-wine-and-Campari-based cocktail originated in Lombardy, Italy, sometime in the 1930s and was beloved by the locals. So beloved, in fact, that they were unable to ride their bikes home after aperitivo hour, a hindrance that gave the cocktail its name.
Diving: The Naked and Famous
To maximize flexibility and aerodynamics, the sport of diving mandates small swimsuits. Seriously, have you seen the outfits these athletes wear to launch themselves from three-story heights in pursuit of the gold? Naked and Famous, indeed. Plus, with the cocktail combining a medley of global ingredients, like mezcal, Chartreuse, and Aperol, it fits right in at the international competition.
Football: Caipirinha
Brazil tends to dominate soccer during the Olympic Games, with an impressive seven medals under the team’s belt. So, it’s fitting that football would be the country’s national drink, the Caipirinha. Made with cachaça, the spirit of Brazil, along with white sugar and a whole lime, the cocktail also got some extra attention during the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Rugby Sevens: The Gin Martini
Rugby is often considered one of the toughest sports in the Olympics, with athletes duking it out on the pitch with no protective equipment. That means its drinkable equivalent would be just as intense, and should feel like a full-contact experience on the taste buds. Enter: the Gin Martini. Bracing, boozy, and sometimes difficult to down, the Martini is the only suitable build to represent a sport that requires such high levels of strength and endurance.
Surfing: Mai Tai
Despite most of the events taking place in Paris, this year’s surfing competitions are being held in Tahiti, the main island in French Polynesia. Of course, surfing would claim the Mai Tai, which gets its name from the Tahitian phrase “mai tai-roe aé,” which translates to “out of this world — the best.” The combination of blended rum, orange liqueur, orgeat, lime juice, and a mint sprig is sure to make you feel like you’re right there on the island cheering on your favorite surfer as they conquer the 40-foot waves.
Swimming: Piña Colada
Name a better cocktail to enjoy poolside than the Piña Colada. We’ll wait. Served up at resort bars the world over, the Piña Colada is the obvious choice to represent the cherished sport of swimming. Plus, after the months of physical and mental training required to compete at such a high level, we’re sure every Olympic swimmer could use a frozen treat to wind down post-podium.
Tennis: The Pimm’s Cup
Aside from the U.S.Open-centric Honey Deuce, it’s hard to think of a drink more synonymous with tennis than the Pimm’s Cup. Made with the low-ABV, gin-based liqueur, cucumber, mint, fresh fruit, and lemon-lime soda, the Pimm’s Cup is sessionable and perfect for nursing mid-match — and commiserating over Coco Gauff’s contentious defeat.
Water Polo: Miami Vice
With polo players’ bodies half underwater and half above during matches, the sport is basically a Miami Vice. Layered with half Piña Colada and half Strawberry Daiquiri, the cocktail is two equal parts working in tandem.
Weightlifting: Whiskey Sour
Egg whites can have a considerable amount of protein, so it’s only right that weightlifting equates to an egg white cocktail. And why not the most famous of the bunch, the Whiskey Sour? Made with whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, and an egg white, the classic sour was created sometime in the late 1800s, right around the same time weightlifting was named an official Olympic sport.
