20,000 female condoms, 200,000 male condoms, 10,000 dental dams: will Paris 2024 be the sexiest Olympics ever?

It's not the first time athletes and officials have been showered with contraceptives. But is there any logic to the options on offer?

Sex may not be an official discipline at the Olympics, but it sure looks like Paris is readying itself for vigorous indoor sports. The Covid-related intimacy ban instigated during the Tokyo Olympics has officially been lifted and a bulk order of contraceptives has been placed. During a recent press conference, the organisers of the 2024 Games said that 200,000 male condoms, 20,000 female condoms and 10,000 dental dams will be made available in the Olympic Village, where 14,500 athletes and staff will be heading in about a week's time.

In some respects, this is business as usual. For decades, there have been boatloads of free contraceptives at the Olympic Village. The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games broke records, providing 450,000 condoms, including (for the first time) 100,000 female ones. Even the no-sex Tokyo Games featured 160,000 free condoms - with strict instructions for athletes not to use them, but to take them home as souvenirs. (Hello, Mum and Dad! I had a great time in Toyko! Would you like to see my commemorative condom?")