LATER this month the Olympic Games arrive at the “City of Love” – and athletes could be making sure it lives up to its name.
The intimacy ban which was in place at the Tokyo 2020 Games due to Covid-19 has been lifted this year by the International Olympic Committee.
Nearly 15,000 residents – around 10,500 of which are athletes – will be cramming into the Olympic Village between July 26 and August 11.
To ensure the athletes feel at home, a number of provisions have been made by organisers.
One of these is the stocking of some 300,000 condoms, in theory enough for around two every day per person during the run of the Games.
A number of Olympic athletes have opened the door on their steamy lives behind-the-scenes when in camp, including huge sex orgies and parties.
London 2012 had claimed the title of “the raunchiest Games ever”, but the 150,000 condoms ordered paled in comparison to the 450,000 ordered for the Rio Games four years later.
Condoms have been laid on by organisers at every game since Seoul 1988, when it was hoped the move would spread awareness of HIV and AIDS.
Even with the intimacy ban last time out in the rearranged 2021 Games, some 150,000 of them were handed out.
However, whether athletes will be in the mood to use them is another question after so-called “anti-sex” beds were installed in rooms in the French capital.
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The beds are made out of cardboard, with the idea behind them to prevent athletes from getting too hot and bothered during the night while also prioritising sustainability with completely recyclable frames and mattresses.
Supporting the “anti-sex” bed theory is that the beds are single frames and potentially not as sturdy as regular ones, with may put off some.
That being said, the beds made by Airweave are made to withstand more than 200kg.
And organisers do want athletes from different nations mixing once again, with the creation of an Olympic Village Club.
Speaking to Sky News, Laurent Michaud, director of the village, said: “It is very important that the conviviality here is something big.
“Working with the athletes commission, we wanted to create some places where the athletes would feel very enthusiastic and comfortable.”
However, while there will be a huge 350-metre buffet to accommodate all the guests, there will be no champagne to help the mingling.
Michaud added: “No champagne in the village, of course, but they can have all the champagne they want also in Paris.
No champagne in the village, of course, but they can have all the champagne they want also in Paris.
Laurent Michaud
“We will have more than 350 metres of buffet with the world food, and I’m sure that the athletes will be very happy to have some French specialties made over here.
“But the variety will first respond to the athletes’ needs for their nutrition and their performance.”
This year’s Olympic Village is the single most expensive project in Paris with £1.7billion being spent, including nearly £550million of public funds.
The village, located about four miles north of the city’s centre and the size of 70 football pitches, has also been championed for being a huge development project following the games.
The plans are to convert the space into an area with 2,500 new eco-friendly homes, office space for 6,000 workers, two schools, a hotel, green spaces and other retail space.
Paris 2024 Olympic coordination commission chair, Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant, told Sky News: “It’s about a responsible Games delivering less complex Games, which means less costly Games, and that’s very important because we have to be cost conscious in today’s world.
“It’s a project where 95 per cent of the venues would be either existing or temporary.
“So in itself, Paris had to build a very limited number of venues and or infrastructure, all of them being needed by the region, like the various infrastructure of the village here.”
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