Not long after Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt stunned the crowd in Beijing by setting a world record in the 100-metre sprint on Saturday, he produced another surprise: The world's fastest man likes fast food. In fact, his prerace meal that day was none other than Chicken McNuggets.

It was not the kind of endorsement you might expect from a fine-tuned Olympic athlete on game day – but Mr. Bolt is by no means alone. In an unusual trend that has emerged from the Beijing Games, a growing number of athletes have been plugging McDonald's in interviews.

Among them, U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte told NBC he'd eaten McDonald's “almost every meal” in Beijing, while American discus thrower Stephanie Brown Trafton and track athlete Billy Nelson have also mentioned the Golden Arches. And upon winning her second gold medal, British swimmer Rebecca Adlington declared: “I'm going to have McDonald's.” Coincidence? McDonald's Corp. says yes.

Outside of endorsement deals with several top U.S. athletes, including one with Mr. Lochte, McDonald's says it has not been paying athletes to talk up the brand.

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