Condom shortage at the Olympics

Guess what happens when you put the healthiest, fittest and strongest young people in the world together in a celebratory atmosphere?

The answer as Olympics organisers know well is that, aside from amazing displays of sporting prowess, a fair amount of sex will ensue in the Olympic village, with hormones raging!

This year, at the winter Olympics in Vancouver, about 100,000 have been distributed. That adds up to 17 condoms for each of the roughly 7,000 athletes attending. While officials say they do not begrudge the competitors having fun, they certainly do not want them to run the risk of sexually transmitted diseases like genital herpes or unwanted pregnancies either.

Despite the massive outpouring of condoms, supplies were running low lastweek. It seems that even 100,000 condoms were too little to match the intense sexually charged energy, surrounding the games. Low testosterone levels are seemingly non-existent here and big social events happen every night, raising the chances of sexual encounters.

Coming to the rescue, the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research has sent three large boxes filled with 8,500 condoms and rushed them across to the games.

Free condoms have been a feature of the Olympics ever since the Barcelona games in 1992. This is the first time that organisers have run out of supplies so fast, however. Perhaps the Olympics are getting sexier? Or maybe people are becoming better at looking after themselves when it comes to sexual health. Either way, it is good to know that however they do when they are competing on the track, the world’s top athletes are playing safe.