Why are the Olympics so obsessed with sex?
It's hard to imagine a global event that sets pulses racing faster.
Adrenaline and testosterone running at fever pitch, it’s hard to imagine a global event that sets pulses racing faster than the Olympic Games.
And this year’s host, Paris – the site of tens of thousands of proposals and countless romantic gestures – looks set to live up to its reputation as the ‘City of Love’ (or perhaps more accurately, lust).
Three years since Covid cast a shadow and an official ‘intimacy ban’ over the 2021 Games in Tokyo, the temperature is heating up with hundreds of thousands of condoms already handed to athletes in the French capital’s Olympic Village.
Gay dating app Grindr has also made some changes to ensure competitors stay safe while enjoying themselves during their Parisian adventure.
Much has been said of why athletes get frisky together at these iconic Games, but why is sex such a major talking point at every Olympics?
Letting off steam
Closed off from the outside world after years of rigorous training to qualify for the event, it’s perhaps little wonder that Olympic athletes are widely rumoured to enjoy blowing off steam together.
Former German long jumper Susan Tiedtke, who took part in two summer Games, gave her take on why competitors are so inclined to slip between the sheets together.
Responding to the Tokyo intimacy ban in 2021, the 55-year-old told Bild: ‘I find the whole thing hilarious – it doesn’t work at all.’
She added: ‘Sex is always an issue in the [Olympic] Village.’
Tiedtke said athletes want to release energy after reaching their physical peak for the contest.
She described celebratory events as ‘one party after another’ and admitted it was sometimes difficult to sleep in the on-site accommodation.
Cardboard beds: tiny but robust
From British diver Tom Daley to Australian tennis player Ellen Perez, a number of Olympians have gone viral after testing out ‘anti-sex ‘ beds in the Olympic Village.
Videos show the stars assuming various positions to test the durability of the beds in their accommodation. Tom Daley even filmed himself doing an extraordinarily impressive handstand.
Constructed from disposable cardboard and stamped with the Olympic rings, the beds appear flimsy and downright uncomfortable. Not exactly the prime setting for after hours activities.
First introduced in the summer of 2021 in Tokyo, the beds were labeled as ‘anti-sex’ after Olympic officials placed an intimacy ban on athletes due to the risk of Covid infection during the pandemic.
Team USA Olympic runner Paul Chelimo wrote at the time: ‘Beds to be installed in Tokyo Olympic Village will be made of cardboard, this is aimed at avoiding intimacy among athletes.
‘Beds will be able to withstand the weight of a single person to avoid situations beyond sports. I see no problem for distance runners. Even four of us can do.’
But three years on, organisers of the Paris Games are looking to dispense with this ‘anti-sex’ notion.
‘We know the media has had a lot of fun with this story since Tokyo,’ they said.
‘But for Paris 2024, the choice of these beds for the Olympic and Paralympic Village is primarily linked to a wider ambition to ensure minimal environmental impact and a second life for all equipment used during the short period of the Games.
‘It goes without saying that the quality of the furniture has been rigorously tested to ensure it is robust, comfortable and appropriate for all the athletes who will use it, and who span a very broad range of body types.’
Condoms for champions
‘Score a win: Yes to consent, no to STDs,’ ‘Don’t share more than victory: Protect yourself against STDs’, ‘Fair play, safe play: Consent first!’
This is just some of the messaging on the condoms that Olympians have been given ahead of the Games.
Some 210,000 male condoms – 10,000 of which are latex free – 20,000 female ones and about 10,000 dental dams will reportedly be distributed in the hope of encouraging safe sex.
That’s a significant jump (33%) compared to what was offered to competitors in London 2012. It dramatically eclipses the supply made available to athletes in by the South Koreans in Seoul in 1988: they handed out just 8,500.
A total of 10,500 athletes representing 206 countries are competing in this year’s Olympics.
That means each one is entitled to at least 22 condoms from this Friday, July 26, until Sunday, August 11.
Talk about hard work. We’re exhausted just thinking about it.
Grindr ‘restricted’
LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr has blocked its ‘explore’ feature in Paris’ Olympic Village, where many of the 10,500 competing sports stars are staying.
The move swiftly sparked outrage online, with one man posting on X earlier this week: ‘Nooo, they blocked Grindr in the Olympic Village,’ followed by not one, but six crying emojis.
But after the initial uproar on Tuesday, it has emerged that the measure was taken to safeguard athletes and keep their locations private.
During the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (which came to be known as ‘Raunchy Rio’), a reporter from US news website The Daily Beast used Grindr to secure dates with Olympians.
He then published details about their appearance, making them identifiable to the public. The site initially revised the article before taking it down and issuing an apology.
At least 150 LGBTQ+ athletes are taking part in the Games, according to Outsports, including high profile names such as Tom Daley.
But many more – particularly those from countries with poor equality rights – can not be ‘out’ publicly .
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