Paris Olympics will give out 300,000 condoms to athletes, continuing long-held tradition

The Paris Olympics will be providing athletes with 300,000 condoms — enough for two per person for every day of the games.

The condoms will be available in the Olympic Village this summer, returning to tradition after the International Olympic Committee issued an intimacy ban and social distancing orders for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The roughly 9,000 athletes will each also be supplied with a cardboard bed frame sturdy enough to support 550 lbs — or two adults.

"It is very important that the conviviality here is something big," Laurent Michaud, director of the village, recently said via Sky News. "Working with the athletes commission, we wanted to create some places where the athletes would feel very enthusiastic and comfortable."

Condoms were first distributed to athletes at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 as part of a campaign to raise awareness for HIV during the height of the AIDs epidemic, multiple outlets reported. Around 8,500 condoms were supplied that year, with the amount since growing exponentially to meet demand.

In 2000, organizers of the Sydney Olympics had to order an additional 20,000 condoms when they realized their initial amount of 70,000 would not be enough. The Rio Olympics in 2016 saw the most condoms supplied to athletes at 450,000. Tokyo Olympic organizers also planned to provide around 150,000 condoms despite the intimacy ban, though they claimed via Reuters that the condoms were “not for use at the athlete’s village, but to have athletes take them back to their home countries to raise awareness.”

The Olympic Village in Paris is the most expensive set up in the history of the games, costing around 2 billion euros (approximately $2,180,689,000 billion). While it was largely funded by private investors, about €650 million (approximately $708,724,000) came from public funds.

While the condoms are provided in the interest of public health and many Olympians partake in sexual activities while in the village, many athletes instead opt to forgo distractions and focus on their performances. There will be no alcohol in the village, as is custom, but Michaud said that the food and atmosphere provided will be "a great place so they can actually share their moment."

"No champagne in the village, of course, but they can have all the champagne they want also in Paris," he continued. "We will have more than 350 meters of buffet with the world food ... and I'm sure that the athletes will be very happy to have some French specialties made over here. But the variety will first respond to the athletes' needs for their nutrition and their performance."

This article was originally published on our equalpride sister site, advocate.com.