The Olympics ran out of condoms after just three days. The world’s best athletes have been promised that an additional supply of contraceptives are on the way but they do not know when more will arrive.
It was a severe miscalculation by the IOC.
Should the Olympics not get its next shipment of condoms very soon, the athletes might have to refrain from shaking the sheets. That’s no fun.
How many condoms did the Olympics provide to athletes?
It is not a secret by now that the Olympic Village is a giant dating pool. The word “dating” might be a severe misrepresentation of what actually goes on, but you know what I mean.
Many of the most fit persons in the entire world get together in a dorm-style environment alongside other physical specimens with whom they would not normally interact. They get it on. Tinder is popping.
“It happens! Incredibly good-looking [athletes], perfect bodies, tight Spandex,” said American skeleton athlete John Daly. “Of course there’s gonna be some hooking up!”
Former alpine ski racer Laurenne Ross famously said she “hooked up with everyone!”
With that knowledge in mind, Olympic organizers (including the IOC and local organizing committees) first started to provide the athletes with free contraceptives at the Seoul Games in 1988 to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and STI prevention. They have done so every two years since. The supplies typically include condoms and oral dams.
Lombardy’s regional governor, Attilio Fontana, is proud of the safety efforts.
“Yes, in the Olympic Village we provide free condoms to athletes. If someone finds it strange, they are not aware of the established Olympic practice. It started in Seoul 1988 to raise awareness among athletes and young people about the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases – a topic that should not cause embarrassment. From a health perspective, the Lombardy Region is fully committed to ensuring maximum assistance to athletes and international teams in these weeks, an action that is part of the Olympic organization, thanks to which we have carried out various works from Niguarda in Milan to Valtellina, which will remain for the people of Lombardy after the great event we are hosting. Health first and foremost: concrete prevention and common sense.”
— Attilio Fontana
It is not an exact science!
The Summer Olympics are significantly larger than the Winter Olympics. Just to compare, Paris hosted more than 10,700 athletes for the 2024 Games. Milan/Cortina features less than 3,000 athletes across 116 events. That is more than three and a half times as many athletes in Summer than in Winter.
With that in mind, the Olympic organizers provided over 200,000 male condoms, 20,000 female condoms, and 10,000 oral dams to athletes in Paris. They provided only 10,000 condoms this winter.
It was not enough!!
The 10,000 condoms for athletes in Italy was not anywhere close to enough. It took only three official days of competition to run out — but that is not an accurate representation of the entire timeline.
Some of the athletes have already been in town for two weeks because the Milano Olympic Village officially opened its doors on Jan. 30. It did not take long for them to start mingling amongst each other, clearly. They must’ve put a dent in the stockpile before everybody else got to town.
Otherwise, the last few days have been wild. For 3,000 athletes to use 10,000 condoms in three days would equate to three(ish) condoms per day per athlete.
Regardless of how it all went down and who used what when, the athletes who just arrived to Italy at the end of last week are already in search of their next supply drop. They need more condoms!
“The supplies ran out in just three days,” said one anonymous competitor to La Stampa. “They promised us more will arrive, but who knows when.”
It remains unclear as to when the next shipment of condoms will arrive. It is also unclear as to whether they will be branded with messages of sexual health and consent like the others.
Messages on the initial sets of condoms included:
- “On the field of love, play fair. Ask for consent”
- “Don’t share more than victory, protect yourself against STDs.”
- “No need to be a gold medalist to wear it!”
I would imagine that the Olympic Committee is more concerned about supply than branding. They need to get as many contraceptives to Italy as possible as soon as possible!