Paris Olympics Lifts Intimacy Ban For Athletes And Will Provide 300,000 Condoms
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, intimacy restrictions were set in place for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Japan to prevent the spread of the virus. However, restrictions are rolling back.
As of March 16, the ban has been lifted for the 2024 Paris Olympics and the Olympic Village — which houses athletes from around the world — per Laurent Michaud, director of the village.
In an interview with Sky News, Michaud claims they are prepping for over 14,000 residents at the village, in addition to 300,000 condoms provided for athletes. The stock number provides at least two condoms for each person for the entire duration of the event.
The games, which will be held at the French capital between July 26 and August 11, utilizes the condoms as a way to promote protection against STDs.
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"The distribution of condoms is not for use at the athletes' village, but to have athletes take them back to their home countries to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS," Olympic officials told Reuters.
Although athletes were provided with 160,000 condoms during the Tokyo Olympics, they were strictly prohibited from all sexual activity and was instructed to keep the condoms instead as souvenirs. Any athletes violating the rule would be subject to fines and disqualification, with repeat offenders even risking having their Olympic medals taken away, 'Men's Journal' reports.
The tradition to hand out thousands of condoms stems back to the 1988 Seoul Olympics, despite intimacy restrictions that prevent people from using them to begin with.
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'It's going to be a great place so they can share their moment and the environment here," Michaud began. "No champagne in the village, of course, but they can have all the champagne they want in Paris."
According to the Center For Disease Control, COVID-19 guidelines have been amended, announcing that they are rolling back strict regulations.
"COVID-19 remains an important public health threat, but it is no longer the emergency that it once was, and its health impacts increasingly resemble those of other respiratory viral illnesses, including influenza and RSV," the report stated in an executive summary.
