It’s rubber time at the Olympics

PARIS – The hunt for close to 1,000 medals at these Olympics is midway through and, although I am no athlete chasing gold, silver or bronze at Paris 2024, I’m also on the quest for something that money cannot buy here – I’m looking for latex.

Helmets, knee guards, shin pads are par for the course for competitors but for those who need a different type of protection, organisers have prepared 200,000 male condoms, 20,000 female condoms and 10,000 dental dams that are available only at the Olympic Village.

The Paris 2024 mascot Phryges – a pair of Phrygian caps that were the emblem of liberty during the French Revolution – have been ubiquitous throughout the Games, but equally so are the French caps, which have been handed out at Olympic Villages to promote safe sex since Seoul 1988.

That was the time when the Aids epidemic was rife and, after a proposal to test all athletes for the disease fell through, officials decided to supply the village with around 8,500 condoms, as well as pamphlets explaining the hazards of unsafe sex.

Since then, they have handed out 50,000 condoms at Barcelona 1992, 90,000 at Sydney 2000 after an initial order of 70,000 ran out halfway, and 150,000 at London 2012.

They burnt through plenty of rubber with 450,000 contraceptives and 175,000 packets of lubricant at Rio 2016, before a more flaccid supply of 160,000 condoms for Tokyo 2020 during the pandemic’s social-distancing era.

While athletes are lauded for their extraordinary sporting feats, tales also abound of the nocturnal activities of these hot-blooded humans.

Among the lurid legends is how Olympians were streaming into a vacated three-storey Team USA condominium – labelled Shooters’ House – at the Village during the Sydney 2000 Games, with target shooter Josh Lakatos telling ESPN.com: “I’ve never witnessed so much debauchery in my entire life.”

Compatriot and swimmer Ryan Lochte, a six-gold champion, also noted: “I’d say it’s 75 per cent of Olympians having sex”.

American goalkeeper Hope Solo conceded to letting one past after sneaking a celebrity into her room at Beijing 2008, while Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt allegedly partied with three Swedish handballers hours after his 100m win at London 2012.

Solo, a two-time Olympic women’s football champion, said: “I’ve seen people having sex right out in the open. On the grass, between buildings, people are getting down and dirty.”

In a further bid to promote safe sex at the Paris 2024 Village, where 14,500 athletes and officials are residing in the city of love, there will also be sexual health testing centres for athletes.

Colourful condoms with messages like “don’t share more than victory: protect yourself against STDs” and “on the field of love, play fair; ask for consent” are also available.

A day before the opening ceremony, I managed to access the Village for a work assignment – with a side mission.

After a few failed attempts, my efforts were rewarded when a volunteer kindly gave me a couple of the sought-after Olympic rings (condoms).

Snagging two was no achievement but, aptly, the message on my prize read: “No need to be a gold medallist to wear it!”