All that brings us to Paris, where these kinds of rules will be more relaxed. Generally speaking, Paris will “definitely be a much different experience than Tokyo,” Ilona Maher, a Team USA rugby player who competed in Japan, tells SELF. For one, no “restrictions regarding sexual activity” will be in place, according to Chovino. “Paris 2024 is not imposing, nor have we been asked to implement, any restrictions in this regard,” she says. And regardless, the IOC is “not policing what people are doing in the village,” Maher says.
Athletes will still have to contend with the cardboard beds—14,250 of them, to be exact, according to Chovino—but they’re probably not the deterrent you might think. While their sturdiness has been disputed, Maher has pointed out that Olympians aren’t exactly a demographic that would need the physical support. “Y’all thinking athletes, Olympic athletes, the top 1% in the world, are gonna be deterred by some cardboard?” she asked in a May TikTok captioned “bffr.” “We’re the best at what we do, but we’re gonna see a cardboard bed and be like, ‘Ugh, sorry, babe, can’t get freaky tonight, it’s cardboard, what are we gonna do?’ No. Okay? They’ll find a way.”
What’s more, it seems like organizers took the possibility (or inevitability) of R-rated antics among Olympians into consideration as they planned Paris. Arriving teams will have access to plenty of protection—a continuation of a tradition that began in Seoul in the 1980s to raise awareness of HIV/AIDs, according to CBS Sports. In total, organizers have stocked up on 200,000 male condoms with latex; 10,000 male condoms without latex; 20,000 female condoms; and 10,000 oral dams, according to Chovino.
There’s “definitely vending machines everywhere” filled with condoms, Des Linden, a US marathoner who competed in London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016, tells SELF.
If you’re doing the math—there will be roughly 10,500 Olympians attending, so that’s about 23 pieces of protection per person—and thinking that figure seems awfully high, it’s important to note that the giveaway isn’t all about immediate action. “The volume of condoms ordered is in no way representative of the athletes’ sexual activity,” Chovino says, adding the number is on par with that present at previous iterations of the Games. Instead, she clarifies, the primary objective of the condom policy is “to raise athletes’ awareness of STIs and how they are transmitted.” In fact, STI prevention is one of two pillars of the Paris Games’ prevention policy, reflecting concern about the resurgence of STIs, Chovino says. To that end, she adds, the village medical clinic will provide preventive STI testing services. And if an athlete does pick up an STI, the clinic is prepared to start treatment.
Regardless of the condoms’ intended purpose, athletes will have the opportunity to mix and mingle (and more) if they so choose. Laurent Michaud, the director of the Paris Olympic Village, told Sky News that the village will feature a lounge and an alcohol-free sports bar. “We wanted to create some places where the athletes would feel very enthusiastic and comfortable so they can have some conversations, discussions, and to share their core values about sports,” he said. Even in the absence of booze, it’s not hard to imagine that some may wind up doing more than just talking—and those who aren’t into the bar scene will have plenty of opportunities for meet-cutes too. In addition to the lounge and sports bar, the village will contain several other shared spaces and public venues, including a post office, a mini-market, a hair salon, and a medical clinic, Chovino says. (Sure, not exactly the hottest of locales but, well, you never know.)
