Paris 2024 Olympics lifting intimacy ban for athletes, stocking up with 300,000 condoms
The Summer Olympics will no longer ban its athletes from private intimacy, eschewing 2020 rules brought on by the COVID pandemic.
Olympics Village Director Laurent Michaud told Sky News on Tuesday that its Paris athlete accommodations will be stocked with as many as 300,000 condoms in preparation.
“It is very important that the conviviality here is something big,” he said. “Working with the athletes commission, we wanted to create some places where the athletes would feel very enthusiastic and comfortable.”
The 2024 games in the City of Love are set to live up to the host city’s nickname. Providing condoms at the Olympics has been a tradition since the 1988 Seoul Olympics as an effort to raise awareness for HIV and AIDS, according to CBS Sports.
Accommodations also include the great culinary pleasures of France, but without its famous champagne.
“No champagne in the village, of course, but they can have all the champagne they want also in Paris,” Michaud said.
“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.
The French government is set to implement a massive security effort for the games, with as many as 15,000 soldiers deployed around Paris to keep athletes, tourists and Parisians safe.
The Seine River opening ceremony for the games is set for July 26 at sunset, but access to viewing will be invitation-only, due to security concerns.
Organizers said the ceremony will offer “an unprecedented experience, using the natural light of the setting sun with all its nuances to illuminate the river promenade of all the world’s best athletes along the Seine, in the heart of the capital.”
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
