In the lead-up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, health officials distributed 70,000 condoms to the visiting athletes. They were 20,000 short. Two years ago in Beijing, 100,000 condoms were provided.
That's also the number of condoms on hand at the Vancouver Olympics. Since fewer athletes (and countries) attend the Winter Olympics, more protection will be available for each attendee. The "Today" show estimates that there are 14 condoms for "each of the 7,000 athletes, coaches, trainers and officials housed in the Games' two villages."
In 2008, a spokesman for UNAIDS China explained the reasoning: "There are many young, strong, single people in the athletes' village and, like everywhere, some will fall in love or other things so we need to make condoms available."
In 2008, former table tennis player Matthew Syed called the Olympics as a "sex fest" and described his experience at the Summer Games:
There were the gorgeous hostesses - there to assist the athletes - in their bright yellow shirts and black skirts; there were the indigenous lovelies who came to watch the competitions. And then there were the female athletes - literally thousands of them - strutting, shimmying, sashaying and jogging around the village, clad in Lycra and exposing yard upon yard of shiny, toned, rippling and unimaginably exotic flesh. Women from all the countries of the world: muscular, virile, athletic and oozing oestrogen. I spent so much time in a state of lust that I could have passed out.
With so many Olympic hotties prowling the villages, officials may have to hope that 100,000 will suffice.