Norwegians issue cheeky challenge to French over Olympic food

PARIS : The Norwegian delegation engaged in some good-natured ribbing of their hosts over comments about food quality and small portions at the athletes' Olympic village, claiming to have more medals in recent years than the French for their cuisine.

"When you travel to France you expect that the food will be very, very good. I'd like to point out that Norway also has a performance culture when it comes to food," Norway's chef de mission Tore Oevrebroe told reporters on Thursday with a glint in his eye.

"We have more medals (for food) since 1987 than the French have, and that means that we come with higher expectations," he added. 

Used to consuming thousands of calories a day to keep themselves going, some athletes complained that they were struggling to eat enough in the village. But Oevrebroe said that they were working with the various Olympic committees to improve things. 

"The quantity is no longer a problem, (but) there's been a little bit to say about the quality, but it's getting better and better every day," he said.

The Australian delegation appear to be taking no chances on that front, bringing with them more than three tons of tuna, 10,000 muesli bars and 2,400 meat pies, as well as three baristas who expect to make more 20,000 shots of coffee during the Games.

Asked if the Norwegians had brought anything with them, Oevrebroe said that no special arrangements were made to transport food to France for the Games.

"No, some people probably have their preferences, but I haven't taken a house survey to see if anyone has brought anything in their suitcase," he said, before realising there was one Norwegian delicacy they might be missing.

"If someone has brown cheese, I'd understand it very well," he said.