Olympic Athletes Have Been Gifted 160,000 Condoms — But They're Not Supposed To Use Them

Olympic athletes will reportedly receive thousands of condoms to encourage safe sex during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics — but they've been advised not to use them in the Olympic Village.

According to NPR, the organizers of the Tokyo Olympics ordered 160,000 condoms to be distributed among the athletes. However, The Tokyo 2020Olympic rulebook asks athletes to avoid physical contact, including hugs and handshakes, as well as keep physical interactions with others "to a minimum." Though over 11,000 athletes from around the world are competing in the Summer Games, the Olympic Village can only lodge a maximum of 6,700.

The Olympics' condom tradition

Condoms have been widely distributed at the Olympics since the 1988 Summer Games, when they were given out to prevent HIV at the height of the AIDS epidemic, according to Time Magazine.

Reports say organizers dished out 100,000 condoms to athletes at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and 110,000 at the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018.

However, Olympians at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro reportedly received the most condoms on record. As many 450,000 condoms were distributed.

How many condoms will Tokyo Olympians receive?

If organizers distribute 160,000 condoms in Tokyo, each Olympian will receive an average of about 14 condoms for the duration of the Games, scheduled to run from July 23 to August 8, for 17 days.

The Tokyo organizing committee told AFP that, though the condoms will be distributed to athletes in spite of COVID-19, they shouldn't be used at the Olympic Village — they're intended for athletes to bring back home to help them raise awareness for the Olympics' campaign for safe sex.

Will athletes end up using the condoms?

Olympians are no strangers to dating, particularly when surrounded by the most elite athletes in the world. In a 2014 interview with US Weekly, Olympic snowboarder Jamie Anderson said that Tinder at the Sochi Olympic Village was "next level."

Anderson said she had to delete Tinder in order to focus on her sport.

In 2012, American swimmer Ryan Lochte said that "70% to 75%" of Olympians had sex during the Games.

"Hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do," Lochte told ESPN.

According to Reuters, more than 67 people affiliated with the Olympics have tested positive for COVID-19 since they began arriving in Tokyo on July 1.