On Valentine’s Day on the Milan Cortina Olympics, a renewed provide of free condoms for the athlete villages was promised by the organizers after going quick through the week.
“We will affirm that condom provides within the Olympic Villages had been quickly depleted as a result of higher-than-anticipated demand,” the Italian organizing committee mentioned in an announcement Saturday. “Further provides are being delivered and will probably be distributed throughout all villages between immediately and Monday.”
Offering condoms for athletes has been a present from organizers — and a continuing fascination to the world — for many years.
Whereas 300,000 condoms had been offered for greater than 10,500 athletes on the 2024 Paris Summer time Video games, the unique inventory was a lot decrease for these Winter Video games.
“I feel 10,000 have been used, 2,800 athletes — you possibly can go determine, as they are saying,” Worldwide Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams mentioned Saturday. “It clearly exhibits that Valentine’s Day is in full swing within the village.”
Experiences of no condoms in week one of many video games adopted an absence of plush toys of the official mascots, Milo and Tina, within the opening days. They proved extra well-liked than anticipated within the official Olympics merchandise shops.
Condoms are historically well-liked for Olympic athletes to take residence as “a sort of reward” to associates, Alpine skier Mialitiana Clerc mentioned Saturday.
“I am not so shocked. I noticed it in Beijing already,” mentioned Clerc, who additionally competed for Madagascar 4 years in the past on the Winter Video games in China. “There have been some packing containers with numerous condoms on the entrance of each constructing the place we had been staying on the village.”
“On daily basis, every little thing was (gone),” she recalled about Beijing at an IOC information convention Saturday to advertise its scholarship program that helps tons of of athletes to coach and qualify for the Olympics.
“I already know that lots of people are utilizing some condoms or simply taking them to offer to their associates outdoors of the Olympics as a result of it is a sort of reward for them,” Clerc mentioned.
There ought to be no additional scarcity in Italy till the Winter Video games closing ceremony on Feb. 22.
“They are going to be constantly replenished till the top of the video games to make sure continued availability,” the native organizing committee mentioned.
