Athletes from around the world competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics are getting busy — in their pursuits and obviously away from the field.
“The goods ran out in just three days,” said an unknown athlete who competed in the games, telling an Italian newspaper. La Stampa on Friday, February 13. “They promised us more would come, but who knows when.”
The athlete went on to accuse organizers of the 2026 Winter Olympics of being shortchanged, telling the media that when it comes to birth control and safe sex practices, those responsible for the Games are “not very generous with the numbers.”
According to the Italian store, “In Paris, the athletes received 300,000 condoms – two each day – but the numbers for this Winter Games were much lower: even 10,000.”
Earlier this month, a Canadian and Spanish ice dancer Olivia Smart gave fans a look inside the Olympic Village, including where to find the free condoms handed out to the athletes.
“So, for anyone wondering about Olympic condoms, I got them,” Smart, a two-time Winter Olympian, shared in a video uploaded to TikTok at the time. “You can get them in the space where there are air weave beds and you can rent equipment – I rented a hair dryer because mine blew up.”
Condoms are seen inside the Athletes’ Village ahead of the Paris Olympic Games on July 23, 2024 in Paris, France.
Getty ImagesSmart continued, “Uh, you can take tons. They have everything — everything you need — at the Olympic Village.”
In the video, the ice dancer was seen shopping at the Olympic Village in Milan, Italy, when she jumped into two plastic bins holding condoms bearing the Milan Winter Olympics logo. (From the looks of the video, the bins have been attacked enough.)
“Yes, there are OLYMPIC condoms,” Smart captioned the video.
Attilio Fontanathe president of the region of Lombardy in Italy, spoke about condoms through social media, confirming that birth control is available to athletes if they want or need it.
“Yes, we provide free condoms to athletes in the Olympic village,” he wrote. “If this seems strange to some, they don’t know the established Olympic practice.” It started in Seoul 1988 to raise awareness among athletes and youth about the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases—a topic that should not cause shame.”
Dating app Grindr is helping to make sure Olympians are safely enjoying their time at the 2026 Games away from the competition, too. Grindr, which focuses on location-based dating for the LGBTQ+ community, has addressed “serious safety and privacy issues, especially for those who are not from or come from countries where being gay is dangerous or […]
Olympic-branded condoms were all the rage in Paris in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Laurent Dalarda person who coordinated first aid and health services at the Games, told Olympics.com that the organization “provided enough personal protective equipment to cover 10,500 athletes who live in the Olympic Village and those who live far away.”
According to Dallard, more than 200,000 male condoms, 20,000 female condoms and 10,000 oral dams have been made available to athletes during the 2024 Paris Games, adding that “safe sex is important in a notorious environment, like college students, but a sweater.”
Athletes have also faced so-called “anti-gender beds” at both the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics – although many athletes have already debunked the myth that the cardboard beds were created specifically to prevent athletes from getting busy between the sheets.
