Dehra Dun : The countdown to the London Olympics has started. And while millions round the world will be excitingly watching the competitions with bated breath as athletes win and lose in nail biting finishes, it will be the condom manufacturing companies that will be in an all win, no loss position.
And not without reason, it is now official that the Games village will be making provision for 1,50,000 condoms during the over 15 days that the Olympics will be spread. And if the past Olympics are any example, the supply will have to be increased through the last few days by another 10,000 to 20,000 condoms.
Take the 2000 Sydney Olympics for example in which 10, 651 athletes comprising 6582 men and 4069 women participated. According to an anonymously authored expose ‘The Secret Olympics’, organizers supplied 70,000 condoms to athletes. The stockpile ran out in a week, whereafter a supply of 20,000 more were made which too were not enough and another 10,000 had to be rushed in again.
While officials may not be looking the other way as the condoms are pocketed in haste, lest there be embarrassed officials of hosts and participating countries,, but they neither condone such behaviour, nor condemn it.
Players agree, albeit on the quiet, that the Games village, the centre built in each host city to accommodate the athletes, is a place where the players let loose and party hard, described by some as a giant orgy.
Breaux Greer, a javelin thrower said that he had sex with three women every day during the 2000 Olympics, which makes one wonder when he found the time practicing throwing the real javelin. And while he may be taken as an exception, but the figures of athletes and condoms are quite revealing.
About 100,000 condoms and about 6500 men participating works out to over 15 condoms per man. But what adds to the figure is the fact that the number of female participants are generally about 1500 less as compared to the female athlete, so who was having more fun is anybody’s guess.
Goalkeeper for the US women’s soccer team Hope Solo has dished out all the sleaze that happens at the Olympics. “When we were done partying, we got out of our dresses, got back into our stadium coats and at 7 a m with no sleep went on the ‘Today’ show drunk”, the New York Daily News quoted her saying in ESPN The Magazine.
In a video of the interview, Solo mistakenly calls the Olympics the World Cup. “Needless to say we looked like hell”, she said adding that she spent the night of debauchery with “a bunch of celebrities”.
A sports psychologist on the condition of anonymity said that the athletes, even the world number ones are under great pressure.
“While yoga is recommended to take off the tension before the event so that one can give his or her best when required, but it is not out of the way for men and women players to cuddle up in bed as it helpd get rid of the tension preceding the event. And of course the cuddling leads on to other things, which actually help the athlete relax before an event and helps being in an improved performance”, he added.
But then as a wag tweeted the other day. “The Olympics, needless to say are the greatest Games in the world where the best of men and women in their sport get together. It is therefore but natural for the Games to also become the greatest orgy in the world, till they last”.
A journalist with over 40 years of experience, Jagdish Bhatt was Editor, Hill Post (Uttarakhand).
Jagdish had worked with India’s leading English dailies, which include Times of India, Indian Express, Pioneer and several other reputed publications. A highly acclaimed journalist, he was a recipient of many awards
Jagdish Bhatt, aged 72, breathed his last on 28th August 2021 at his Dehradun residence.
