The practice of handing out condoms at the Olympics is not new. About 8,500 condoms were handed out during Seoul Olympics to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS.

As the city of love, Paris, is gearing up for the Olympics 2024, the government has lifted the ban on physical intimacy between athletes. Laurent Michaud, the director of Olympic Village, shared in an interview that the 2024 Paris Games will provide 300,000 condoms for the 14,250 athletes who will be staying in their quarters.

This reverses the Olympic policy that was set in 2020. Even though condoms were distributed at the Tokyo Games, athletes were prohibited from having intimate relationships because of the COVID-19 outbreak. In order to prevent the disease from spreading, athletes were advised to avoid having sexual relations with one another and to keep a six-and-a-half-foot gap between them, reported the People.

The practice of handing out condoms at the Olympics is not new. About 8,500 condoms were handed out during 1988 Seoul Olympics to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS. However, this number has only increased over the years. At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the organisers arranged 70,000 condoms, but they soon fell short and had to order an additional 20,000. In 2016 Rio Olympics, 450,000 male and female condoms were distributed, reported the Washington Post.

Even in Tokyo, despite the close contact ban, the organisers gave out 150,000 condoms, but told Reuters they were "not for use at the athlete's village, but to have athletes take them back to their home countries to raise awareness".

As per Sky News, the Olympics 2024 are encouraging athletes to mix with each other. "It is very important that the conviviality here is something big," said Laurent Michaud. He also added, "Working with the athletes commission, we wanted to create some places where the athletes would feel very enthusiastic and comfortable."

Michaud also shared about the food which will be served to athletes. "We will have more than 350 metres of buffet with the world food... and I'm sure that the athletes will be very happy to have some French specialties made over here. But the variety will first respond to the athletes' needs for their nutrition and their performance," he told Sky News.

He further added, "No champagne in the village, of course, but they can have all the champagne they want also in Paris."