Olympics News

Controversy in the Olympics is not exactly a new phenomenon, but a controversy about condoms in the Olympic Village isn’t something you’d expect to hear every day.

Instead of drug cheats or fixed badminton matches, it is a story involving condoms that is raising eyebrows across the water today after it has emerged that a bucket of unofficial condoms made their way into the Olympic village without official consent.

In any other situation, most people would be glad of the mere presence of a condom/numerous condoms rather than worrying about the brand or the manufacturer, but because of the Olympics’ ultra-strict marketing policy, there has been something of a stir about sightings of condoms made by brands other than Durex, who paid for the supply rights of some 150,000 free condoms to the Olympic Village.

Incidentally, the village holds just under 11,000 athletes, which works out at around 14 condoms per athlete, seemingly confirming the theory that what happens on the track, the field and other Olympic venues is far from the only physical activity taking place at the Games.

According to The Guardian, the controversy began when Australian BMX cyclist Caroline Buchanan tweeted a photograph of the offending bucket of Kangaroo condoms, which featured a sign reading "Kangaroos condoms, for the gland downunder", and a picture of a boxing kangaroo. Buchanan suggested that their presence backed up the widespread rumours about the amount of nookie taking place in the Olympic Village, saying: "Haha, the rumours are true. Olympic village."

The bucket also contained condoms from another brand, a private British firm called Asante, and a spokeswoman for Locog (London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) said that an investigation was being launched to determine how the bucket of condoms ended up in the Olympic Village in the first place.

"We will look into this and ask that they are not handed out to other athletes because Durex are our supplier," she said.

An Ansell spokeswoman said her company knew nothing about it and suggested that it could be a prank. "We have had no official participation or association with the Olympics at all," she said.

Lawrence Boon, the managing director of Pasante, said his company had no involvement with the distribution of condoms in the athletes' village and thought it was probably the result of some tomfoolery by the Australian team.

"We have no association with the Olympics but we did launch a gold condom this year for champions," said Boon. "With such high teenage pregnancy and STD rates, we try to make people carry condoms by making them fun and interesting."

A Durex spokeswoman said the company was "proud to be supplying free condoms for the Olympics Games" but declined to elaborate further.

Durex are obviously not very happy that their status as official condom supplier to some of the fittest people on the planet is being threatened, but maybe they should just be glad that that there are some extra supplies lying around.

After all, there are 50,000 more free condoms in the Olympic Village than there were in Beijing four years ago and 80,000 more than in Sydney in 2000, where the initial allocation of 70,000 ran out and the organisers had to order in 20,000 extra condoms.

How they still have any energy left to compete is beyond us.