Free condoms for athletes at the Winter Olympics in Italy have run out in just three days, La Stampa reports. An anonymous athlete told the Italian newspaper:
"They were all used up within three days. They promised us more would come, but we don't know when."
The report notes that organizers have not been “very generous with the number of free condoms” this year. In Paris, 300,000 condoms were distributed to athletes — two per day for each — but for these Winter Games the numbers were much lower: no more than 10,000 condoms in total. Almost 3,000 athletes are participating in these Winter Games, compared with about 10,500 in Paris two years ago.
The governor of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, stressed that the topic should not be shameful:
“Yes, we provide free condoms to athletes in the Olympic Village,” he said in a social media post. “If this seems strange to some, they don’t know that this is an established Olympic practice that began in Seoul 1988, to raise awareness about the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, a topic that should not cause shame.”
Olivia Smart, a Spanish figure skater, showed off condoms emblazoned with the logo of the Lombardy region in an Instagram post: "I found them," she says in the video, which has gone viral. "They have everything you need."
In addition to condoms, the Olympic village also offers many other activities for athletes, including a large gym, board games and even a piano, as well as free drinks machines.
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