At several of the more recent Olympic games, journalists have been struck by the idea that when you take some of the world’s fittest, most attractive people and put them in a village together under high stress for a short period of time, a lot of sex happens.
Countries hosting the Olympic games, however, thought they would prevent sending the world’s fittest, most attractive people home with STIs. As such, condom distribution in Olympic villages has become common. For the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the British government distributed a record 150,000 condoms throughout the village at a rate of about 15 per athlete. There were so many condoms that there was no excuse to have sex without them. The athletes were swimming in condoms. Diving into them. Shot-putting with them?
At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Beijing, officials passed out 100,000 condoms. The Russians this year are doing the same. Their supplier is LOVE Condoms, a worldwide condom initiative created by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) that seeks to promote global condom usage in order to combat AIDS.
CBS estimates that this time the rate is about 36 condoms per athlete. It’s not a package deal; Russia does not send congratulatory letters to Olympic athletes that contain 36 condoms, even though that would be amazing. They’re available for free in vending machines in the Olympic village, which is almost as good.
Condom availability is a surprisingly difficult field to navigate. Wheaton has had its own issues with it, particularly as SHAG works to make condoms available campus-wide. Currently, only a few dorms have them in vending machines, although they’re available for free in the SAIL office and from RAs.
Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte once told ESPN that he thought about “70 to 75 percent of athletes” were having sex. Lochte is known to be really stupid and that’s probably not an accurate stat, but why take chances and not use a condom? As he says, “Hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.” Condoms for all.