Olympic champion Hanna Öberg is among the Olympians supporting the move ©Getty Images

Five Swedish Olympians have been announced as ambassadors for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) World Class Vegetarian project, which aims to promote sustainable food.

The initiative hopes to demonstrate that it is possible to be a world class athlete and eat sustainably. 

The five Olympians involved have all excelled at international level in different sports.

Winter Olympians Charlotte Kalla, Hanna Öberg and André Myhrer compete in cross-country skiing, biathlon and Alpine skiing respectively.

Sailor Max Salminen and equestrian's Peder Fredricson complete the list of ambassadors.

"There is no meaning being world class if there's no world to live on," said Olympic champion Öberg.

The Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK) is also supportive of the project and has pledged to help team chefs prepare more sustainable food for the athletes for a total of 300 days, during training camps and competitions.

The Swedish Olympic Committee will be serving vegetarian alternatives in an attempt to promote sustainable foods ©Swedish Olympic Committee
The Swedish Olympic Committee will be serving vegetarian alternatives in an attempt to promote sustainable foods ©Swedish Olympic Committee

The project will run for four years with the goal to encourage people to move to sustainable foods.

"We will develop vegetarian food to fit the special needs a world class athlete has when it comes to nutrition," said SOK nutritionist, Linda Bakkman.

"We are fully convinced we can overcome those challenges.

"If our athletes can shift to a more sustainable way, anyone can do it."

The example will be set for other people in Sweden but the SOK said it has no plans for the athletes to become vegans.

"If these ambassadors can spread the word regarding these matters we can reach people we haven't been able to reach before," said Håkan Wirtén, WWF secretary general in Sweden.