Ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky hails from Canada and is famous for his incredible career, which earned him the title of The Great One. His outstanding 61 NHL records, along with the title of a leading goal scorer and assist producer in NHL history, was a result of disciplined training and diet.

The Ontario-born athlete once spoke to Graham Bensinger in an interview in 2016, where he discussed his unique pre-game diet.

Wayne Gretzky mixed up his diet according to what was available

Gretzky discussed his unconventional diet in the talk show. “Depending on which city we are in, if it was Chicago, there’d be pizza in the building, if its Quebec City there’d be hot dogs, in some cities we’d have sandwiches,” he said. “In those days we didn’t have power bars or Gatorade. For me, id drink diet coke. I found that to be the same sort of stimulation as an energy drink.” Continued the retired sportsman, “And we’d have chocolate bars, we didn’t have power bars.”

Additionally, the 61-year-old explained that during his time, food choices were limited. “I had snickers or any kind of a chocolate bar I found that gave me energy. Sometimes it lasted throughout the game, and then other times I’d be hungry after the first period or second period and I’d have half a sandwich or just something to give me that little bit of energy,” said Wayne.

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In addition, he stated, “I think my body, physically and mentally I got so used to it that I had to have it.”

Gretzky received global recognition at a very young age

The retired pro ice hockey player was a young prodigy. From 1979 through 1999, he participated in 20 NHL seasons for several clubs. They consist of the New York Rangers, LA Kings, St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, and Indianapolis Racers.

In an interview with Stephen Colbert’s talk show, Wayne Gretzky revealed the story of how he came to be known as “The Great One.” 

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The athlete chuckled as he thought back on his history and recalled the event that gave him his moniker. “I scored 400 goals when I was 10…I played with some great players,” explained Gretzky, “This guy wrote in a paper, ‘everybody should have their own nickname, a player of that caliber should have a name, he said, we’ll call you the great one!”