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Lifestyle

Norway orders 15,000 eggs for Olympics

February 8, 2018

A translation error resulted in the team receiving thousands of eggs more than it expected — some extra protein for the Norwegian athletes as they scramble for medals?

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Freshly laid eggs are seen on a production line at a poultry farm
Image: Reuters/F. Lenoir

The Norwegian Olympic team's breakfast order went sunny side up after it was delivered 15,000 eggs — 10 times the number it ordered.

The team chefs blamed a translation error for the massive delivery.

They thought they were ordering 1,500 eggs from a local distributor in Pyeongchang, which is hosting the 2018 Winter Games, but ended up ordering thousands more after using of Google Translate to render the order into Korean.

Read more: South Korea's 'peace Olympics' fail to please all

"The eggs were more like a misunderstanding than something that we needed. It was an extra zero on the order, so 1,500 to 15,000," Norwegian chef de mission Tore Ovrebo said.

A frigid Pyeongchang gears up for the Games

Ovrebo struggled to suggest what the team would do with the eggs. But he did not rule out finding ways for the team to consume them, which means each person in the 121-member delegation would have to eat 124 eggs during the 17-day event. 

"They will probably use them, I guess," Ovrebo said. "Maybe the people that supplied us with them will take them back I don't know. It's not a big issue."

However, one of the team chefs later told a Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten they were able to return the excess eggs, ensuring the players and officials did not have to endure a rather limited menu.

The incident took place last week but only now has attracted international attention.

ap/sms (Reuters, AP)