Olympians Are Finding Condoms in Their Olympic Village Bedrooms: 'No Need to Be a Gold Medalist to Wear It'
Organizers prepared 300,000 condoms to distribute, including putting some inside athletes’ toiletry gift bags
Sarah Douglas/Tiktok; Maja Hitij/Getty
Condoms at the Paris Olympics; a ball with the Olympic ringsBefore the Olympics start, Olympians are being urged to wrap it up.
As athletes arrive in Paris ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, they are settling into their bedrooms at the Olympic Village and finding condoms in their toiletry gift bags.
In a TikTok video showing off the Olympics-branded condom packaging, sailor Sarah Douglas from Canada holds up blue and pink condom holders emblazoned with messages such as “On the field of love, play fair [and] ask for consent” and ”No need to be a gold medalist to wear it.”
The condom packaging also includes the Paris Games’ mascot — the Olympic Phryge — which is shaped as a soft red conical bonnet or Phrygian cap that is a symbol of freedom.
Organizers are providing 300,000 condoms to more than 14,000 athletes.
Related: What New Sports Are Coming to the 2024 Paris Olympics? Look Out for These Competitions
Other messages on the 2024 condoms include: “Score a win: Yes to consent, no to STDs,” “Don't share more than victory: Protect yourself against STDs” and “Fair play, safe play: Consent first.”
As TikTok users noted in Douglas’ comment section, the cardboard “anti-sex” beds have returned to the Olympic Village bedrooms after going viral during the 2020 Tokyo Games. This year marks the return of condom distribution after the Tokyo Olympics enforced an intimacy ban due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Condoms have reportedly been provided to Olympians since at least the 1988 Seoul Olympics, reached a peak of 450,000 condoms provided at the 2016 Rio Olympics and were even given a motto at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (“Faster, Higher, Stronger”), Slate reported in 2016.
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Aurelien Meunier/Getty
A bed inside the Olympic Village in ParisRelated: The Viral Cardboard ‘Anti-Sex’ Beds Are Returning for the 2024 Paris Olympics
“It is very important that the conviviality here is something big,” Laurent Michaud, director of the Olympic Village told Sky News in March, adding that they want Olympians to “feel very enthusiastic and comfortable.”
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. And sign up for Going for Gold, our Olympics newsletter, to get the biggest stories from the Games delivered straight to your inbox. Watch the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, beginning July 26, on NBC and Peacock.
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