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Why has the Winter Olympic village run out of condoms?

Athletes in Italy have reportedly run out of condoms, which are offered out for free at the Olympic Village every year. More are ‘on the way’ say organisers, though athletes say the initial supply was unusually low.

There’s a crisis happening at the Winter Olympic village in Italy, and no, we’re not talking about the athlete who confessed to having an affair on live television.

Reports from anonymous athletes allege that they’ve run out of condoms on site in only three days, a new record (is that technically a WR or an OR?), at least according to Italian newspaper La Stampa.

In an interview, one struggling lover explained that organisers had ‘promised […] more will arrive, but who knows when.’

They also said that they had not been ‘particularly generous with the numbers,’ alleging that they received ‘not even 10,000’ condoms compared to the ‘300,000 condoms’ supplied during the Paris Olympics in 2024.

As The Guardian notes, however, there are roughly 3,000 athletes at the Winter Olympics compared to the 10,500 that were in Paris. The number of condoms claimed by La Stampa – if true – are still disproportionate, but it’s important to stress that both events vary in scale.

Why are condoms flying off the shelves, you might be wondering?

It’s no secret that athletes get notoriously busy with each other during the Olympic seasons, both in the winter and summer, and it’s not hard to see why. Nearly everyone is young, incredibly physically fit, and often single due to the intense training required to compete at such a high level.

Everyone is in peak physical condition and down to mingle, if you catch our drift.

This isn’t the first time that promiscuity has made headlines at the Olympics, either. Remember those ‘no sex’ beds in Paris that were made of cardboard?

They weren’t actually designed to put people off bumping uglies, of course, but they were particularly difficult to move around in. Videos of athletes testing the beds out went viral, though there’s seemingly no information available as to whether they stopped anyone from hooking up.

As for this year, condoms are reportedly fetching a high price in the village amidst the shortages. The Sun claims that single Olympic condoms are being listed on Vinted for upwards of $125 USD. Could athletes be buying in desperation?

Probably not, but it’s a fun story, nonetheless.

Meanwhile, the US is set to host the Olympic Games in 2028 amidst growing global unease toward the Trump administration and its foreign policies.

We recently took a deep dive into potential plans and logistics for the event, with the White House positioning itself to have unprecedented influence over its organisation.

Given the current political climate across the pond, we wouldn’t be surprised if more than just ‘anti sex’ beds are introduced into the next Olympic village. The athletes will be lucky to receive any condoms at all if things continue the way they’re headed, frankly.

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