Ever since the Olympics began last week, I’ve been pretty much glued to the television. There’s something about watching the best athletes from all around the world compete for the gold medal. Part of the attraction is hearing the backstories of the athletes as they work so hard to get there from usually a super young age. It’s also entertaining to see them celebrate but according to this The New York Times article, there’s a lot more going on than what NBC is sharing.
The story, which came from The Athletic, focuses on something you definitely won’t hear during prime-time coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics. Apparently, the free condoms that are traditionally provided to athletes inside the Olympic Village ran out in just a few days.Yes, really.
According to the article, a spokesperson said supplies were “temporarily depleted due to higher-than-anticipated demand,” and more were being delivered and would be “continuously replenished until the end of the Games.” That alone tells you everything you need to know about life inside the village.
Italian newspaper La Stampa reported that fewer than 10,000 condoms were initially available in the Cortina village, which is pretty surprising considering there are nearly 3,000 athletes competing across different locations like Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. For context, the Paris Summer Olympics reportedly distributed around 300,000 condoms. So yeah, the math wasn’t exactly mathing this time.
One thing I didn’t realize is that this has been standard Olympic practice for decades. Attilio Fontana, the governor of Lombardy, even addressed it publicly, saying the tradition started at the Seoul Games in 1988 to promote awareness around sexually transmitted diseases and prevention. As he put it, it’s “a topic that shouldn’t cause embarrassment.”
That makes sense. You’ve got thousands of elite athletes in their physical prime, living together for weeks, away from home, under intense pressure. It would almost be weirder if there wasn’t some social activity happening.
@oliviasmartxox Yes, there are OLYMPIC condoms. #olympics #milanocortina2026 #winterolympics ♬ sonido original – En Línea
The article also mentioned Spanish figure skater Olivia Smart, who posted a viral video (embedded above) from inside the village showing the branded condoms and joking that they had “everything you need.” Meanwhile, one anonymous athlete told La Stampa, “You have to use your imagination,” when talking about ways people were relaxing while waiting for more supplies to arrive.
What I find fascinating about stories like this is how different the Olympics probably feel from the inside compared to what we see on TV. On television it’s all inspirational music, slow-motion replays and emotional interviews with parents. Behind the scenes, it’s thousands of young people from around the world living together in close quarters, forming friendships, blowing off steam and trying to manage nerves before the biggest competitions of their lives.
And that’s the part we never see. With thousands of elite athletes in their 20s and 30s from all over the world living together under one roof, it almost sounds like the premise for a reality show on an adult cable network. Are athletes getting cozy with their own teammates, or forming unexpected connections with competitors they just faced hours earlier? The psychology alone would be fascinating. The friendships, the rivalries, the stress, the adrenaline. To be a fly on the wall during those two weeks would probably be just as entertaining as the competitions themselves.