Winter Olympics runs out of condoms as athletes go through 9,700 in just three days days

Winter Olympics athletes have already used up all their condoms, just days into the Games.

The stars of the Milan-Cortina Olympics are now waiting for new supplies to arrive.

Over 9,700 condoms had been distributed across the various Athlete Villages, according to The Sun. But with roughly three per participant for the entire Games, that wasn’t enough.

The International Olympic Committee confirmed on Saturday that 10,000 condoms have already been taken by athletes at the Milan-Cortina Games, which opened on February 6.

At a daily media briefing, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams smiled as he revealed: “10,000 have been used, for 2,800 athletes. Go figure, as they say.”

Alpine skier Mialitiana Clerc, 24, from Madagascar, said she wasn’t surprised by the rush, having seen the same demand at the Beijing Winter Olympics four years ago.

“I am not so shocked because I know that at the Winter Olympic Games there are a lot of people using condoms because I saw it in Beijing already,” she said.

An anonymous athlete told Italian paper La Stampa: “The supplies sold out in just three days. They promised us more will arrive but who knows when.”

More are expected, but the stock has fallen short, especially compared with the 230,000 condoms stocked for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, around 20 per athlete.

Messages on the packets encourage safe practices. One reads, “On the field of love, play fair. Ask for consent.”

Another says, “Don’t share more than victory, protect yourself against STDs.”

A final one: “No need to be a gold medallist to wear it!”

Athletes have also been reminded: “Health first: prevention and common sense.”

Speaking at the briefing as an IOC scholarship recipient, Clerc described how quickly the supplies disappear: “There were a lot of boxes at the entrance of every building where we were staying and every day, everything had gone from the box.”

She added: “I already know that a lot of people are using condoms, or giving them to their friends outside of the Olympics because it’s a kind of gift for them.”

Olympic Athletes’ Villages have long had a reputation as a hotspot for sexual activity among competitors.

Milan-Cortina 2026, running February 6–22, hosts the world’s best winter sports athletes across northern Italy. With facilities spread over Milan, Cortina, and Livigno, the Games are a massive gathering, and the high demand has already taken its toll.

It’s no secret that intimacy is a part of life for athletes during the stress of competition. Swimmer Ryan Lochte has said that three-quarters of athletes heading to the Games will have sex.

Matthew Syed, former table tennis player and now journalist, reflected on the 1992 Olympics: “Barcelona was, for many of us Olympic virgins, as much about sex as it was about sport.”

He described it as a “sex fest” and added: “It is a common sight to see recently knocked-out athletes gorging on Magnums and McDonalds, swilling alcohol, and of course, sh*gging like crazy. Sometimes all three at the same time.”