Well, the Olympic Village ran out of condoms. Yes, the Olympic Village. The place where the fastest, strongest, most genetically blessed humans on Earth gather for a few weeks of “friendly competition.”
Apparently, the competition wasn’t just happening on the track.
Reports say the organizing committee had to restock condoms after supplies disappeared at record-breaking speed. Forget gold medals, the real sprint was happening at the distribution table. Athletes really said, “Faster, higher and stronger.” And they meant it.
To be fair, this isn’t new. The Olympics have a long tradition of handing out free protection like it’s part of the opening ceremony. Thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands. It’s basically the one event everyone qualifies for, but even with mountains of supply, the Village still managed to burn through them like sprinters off the starting block. Impressive dedication, honestly.
“We can confirm that condom supplies in the Olympic Villages were temporarily depleted due to higher-than-anticipated demand,” the Italian organizing committee said in a statement Saturday. “Additional supplies are being delivered and will be distributed across all villages between today and Monday.”
“I think 10,000 have been used, 2,800 athletes — you can go figure, as they say,” International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said Saturday. “It clearly shows that Valentine’s Day is in full swing in the village.”
The organizing committee is being proactive to making sure athletes are fully protected both on and off the field.
“I’m not so shocked. I saw it in Beijing already,” said Clerc, who also competed for Madagascar four years ago at the Winter Games in China. “There were some boxes with a lot of condoms at the entrance of every building where we were staying at the village.”
“Every day, everything was (gone),” she recalled about Beijing at an IOC news conference Saturday to promote its scholarship program that helps hundreds of athletes to train and qualify for the Olympics.
“I already know that a lot of people are using some condoms or just taking them to give to their friends outside of the Olympics because it’s a kind of gift for them,” Clerc said.
The committee is assuring athletes of no shortage of condoms again.
“They will be continuously replenished until the end of the games to ensure continued availability,” the local organizing committee said.
In the end, the organizing committee handled it quickly. Supplies were replenished, crisis averted and records were likely broken again within hours.
So yes, medals were won, records were shattered and somewhere in the Village, another box quietly disappeared. The Olympic spirit lives on!
