As the 2024 Olympic Games kick off in Paris, one aspect of the event is grabbing attention for reasons other than athletic prowess: the high demand for condoms in the Olympic Village.Credit: Kevin Voigt / GettyThis year, organizers have stocked up on a record 300,000 condoms, the highest number ever ordered for the Games, per Sky News. The previous record was set during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics when organizers had to procure an additional 20,000 condoms after running out of the initial 70,000.But why is there such a significant demand for condoms among athletes? Former Olympian Susen Tiedtke, who competed in the long jump at the 1992 and 2000 Olympics, provided some insight into this phenomenon.Speaking to Bild in July 2021, Tiedtke described sex at the Olympics as "inevitable no matter what."German athlete Susen Tiedtke in 2000. Credit: Gunnar Berning / GettyShe explained that athletes, who dedicate their lives to rigorous training and competition, naturally seek ways to release their pent-up energy once their events are over.Tiedtke noted that athletes reach their physical peak during the Games, which can lead to a strong desire for physical release after intense competition.“The athletes are at their physical peak at the Olympics. When the competition is over, they want to release their energy,” she said.She also mentioned that the post-competition period is characterized by numerous social gatherings and parties, where alcohol often plays a role. This combination, she explained, contributes to the high levels of sexual activity observed in the Olympic Village.Matthew Syed, a former Great Britain table tennis player who competed in Barcelona 1992 and Sydney 2000, has also shared his experiences. Writing in The Times in 2008, Syed candidly reflected on the sexual atmosphere of the Olympic Village.He described his time in Barcelona as being as much about “sex as it was about sport,” stating: “I am often asked if the Olympic Village... is the sex-fest it is cracked up to be. My answer is always the same: too right it is.”Syed admitted that he experienced a significant amount of sexual activity during the Games, surpassing what he had encountered in the rest of his life up to that point.The intense focus on athletic performance and the subsequent release of built-up energy contribute to the unique social environment of the Olympic Village.With athletes from around the world coming together in a high-pressure setting, the blend of physical peak performance, social gatherings, and relaxed post-competition interactions creates an environment where sexual activity is notably high.As the Games continue in Paris, it seems that the Olympic Village will remain a hub of both athletic achievement and, perhaps inevitably, a vibrant social scene.Featured image credit: Michael Reaves / Getty

An Olympic climbing athlete's devastating slip-up has gone viral after it caused her to miss out on a Tokyo 2020 win.

Iuliia Kaplina of the Russian Olympic Committee was up against Team GB's Shauna Coxsey when she got off to a flying start in the first heat of the three-discipline women's sport climbing, the Daily Mail reports.

However, as she competed at the Aomi Urban Sports Park, she slipped up moments before she reached the top of the wall - a mistake that caused her to slip, fall, and enable her competitor to take the lead.

Watch the viral slip-up below: 

Kaplina began to cry as she descended from the bolder, but the record-holding climber still managed to place fifth with her first attempt time of 7.65 seconds, per Olympics.com.

Coxsey later said of the incident, as per the Guardian: "The format is not ideal. As an athlete, I think it's pretty risky on your body. It's intense. It's almost impossible to train all the aspects of the combined in a good way, anyway."

After the video was reposted to Reddit, supportive viewers took to the comments section to sympathise with the athlete.

One wrote: "Luckily her first attempt was 7.65 seconds, she just tried to improve her already great earlier run. I can imagine she is very disappointed, but fortunately not the end of the world."

Credit: Reddit

A second added: "the leg kicks as she descended is what got me... poor thing."

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A third wrote: "I saw this on TV in the UK, and the commentator referred to it as a 'tantrum'. I thought that was cruel when she's just showing emotion."

Credit: Reddit

A fourth remarked: "Oh god I can't imagine how she feels. You train for several years in your life just for a 10 second event but all the effort goes to waste due to a small mistake."

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However, she was not the only athlete to fall off the wall at Tokyo 2020, and it also happened to Coxsey, the Guardian reports, who ended up placing 10th after ranking 15th in Speed, 4th in Boulder and 13th in Lead.

Featured image credit: Alamy / Miyoko Fukushima

A 42-year-old Olympic athlete has explained why being a virgin puts her at a disadvantage.Lolo Jones is one of America’s most decorated and versatile athletes - an Olympian who’s excelled at both summer and winter sports.She has racked up three NCAA titles and 11 All-American honors in hurdles while at Louisiana State University before going on to win gold at the World Indoor Championships, IAAF World Athletics Final, and the World Championships.She also took her talents to the ice, competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics as a bobsledder.Yet, for all her accomplishments on the track and in the sled, her personal life has been far more complicated.The athlete, a devout Christian, has been vocal for years about her decision to have sex after marriage - something she first shared publicly in 2012 when she was in her late twenties.Lolo Jones has opened up about why she's a virgin at 42. Credit: Gregg DeGuire / Getty"There's virgins out there, I'm gonna let them know, it's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," Jones said at the time. "Harder than training for the Olympics, harder than graduating from college, has been to stay a virgin before marriage."Her revelation came at a cost. During an appearance on Kevin Hart’s Cold as Balls series in 2020, she admitted: “That killed all my dates after that. Before, at least I had a chance. Before, I'd like, tiptoe. 'Okay, when's a good time to tell him? Do I wait until he sees my personality a little bit? Or do I just drop the bomb?'”She also revealed that her abstinence may have affected her athletic performance. "Having sex actually helps you as an athlete, a female athlete. So, I'm running at a disadvantage," she said."I have a higher level of intensity because I don't have any pressure release. Everybody knows me as stressed out."Jones has competed in both the summer and winter Olympics. Credit: Patrick Smith / GettyDespite the struggles, the Olympian has taken proactive steps to secure her future. In 2022, she froze her eggs to preserve her options for starting a family."I have made the right move to prepare for a family if me and my husband want to try to have kids one day, we have options," she shared on Instagram. "No one should be shamed for taking their time to figure out who their life partner is.""A woman shouldn’t be shamed for wanting biological kids or wanting to know what it’s like to be pregnant and carry her own child," she continued. "I pray for all women that are on this journey or have done this journey. We are warriors they will never know."Now, her focus has shifted to finding calm in the chaos. “I know it seems super weird, but I'm just trying to do things that are peaceful. I tell everybody I'm on a day-by-day plan,” Jones told the Mail Online."I'm on the Tom Brady retirement plan before he actually retired," she added.Featured image credit: Roy Rochlin / Getty

The 2018 Winter Olympic Games, held this year in Pyeongchang, South Korea, have captured the attention of millions of sports fans. So far, most of the press has focused on the diplomatic value of the international athletics event. However, it's also been exciting enough in its own right and a number of proud Americans have already brought home gold medals. Among these champions is 31-year-old Shaun White, the professional snowboarder, skateboarder and musician, who currently holds the record for the most gold medals at ESPN's extreme sports event, the X-Games. This week, White managed the impressive feat of winning his third Olympic gold medal at the men's halfpipe event, with a score of 97.75 - grabbing the 100th gold medal for the USA in the winter Olympics. Typically, this display of skill would be cause for a national celebration - but not in the case of White. His gold medal win has been soured by controversy, and yet activists representing the #MeToo movement (a hashtag on Twitter formed in the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein sex abuse scandal, aimed at combating sexual harassment and exploitation in the workplace) believe that White is getting off too lightly. They feel as though the public is being kept ignorant of the sexual harassment accusations White has faced. In 2016, White's Bad Things bandmate Lena Zawaideh took him to court, accusing him of sending her sexually explicit and inappropriate messages and of making lewd and bullying comments around her. The closer you look at the details of the trial, the more bizarre the facts appear. Zawaideh claimed that White often sent her pornography and forced her to watch a video of two people engaging in sexual intercourse on top of a dead bear, as well as another video which involved people dressed as members of the clergy engaging in coprophilia when she was 17 years old. Texts included images with pornographic and racist depictions of black men, pictures of erect male genitalia, and comments about Zawaideh's boyfriend. Zawaideh also claimed that, on one occasion, White shoved his hands down his pants and forced her to smell them, and attempted to kiss and grope her while intoxicated at a Halloween party. White also apparently policed Zawaideh's behaviour closely, controlling the way she dressed and cut her hair, and apparently once threatened to send her home before a gig because he didn’t like a fleece sweater she was wearing. In one of White's text messages, which were obtained by TMZ, White asked Zawaideh to "go out in the morning and have your hair cut in a new style above the shoulder or above, but keep your bangs." When Zawaideh replied that she had no intention of changing her hairstyle, White answered "That's disappointing ... are u sure this is the decision u want to make? [sic]" [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4cvsX9HQS4]] White also apparently became hostile and threatening after losing at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the suit alleges that White was financially withholding. It claims that White neglected to pay his fellow Bad Things bandmates their monthly salary when their day jobs interfered with practice. Later on, White apparently reinstated pay to everyone apart from Zawaideh, and after she was fired from the band later that year, White did not send her a contractual retainer or a pro-rata share of profits. She has still not received these, which total approximately $42,000 in back payments. In a statement made during the course of the suit, Zawaideh said: "I am pursuing this case because women should not have to tolerate harassment at work ... Shaun White should not be allowed to do whatever he wants just because he is famous. Although I am embarrassed to have been treated this way, I cannot sit by and watch him do this to other women." For his part, Shaun White has wholeheartedly denied the allegations of sexual misconduct, although he has accepted responsibility for the texts, some of which he admitted were inappropriate. White's attorney, Kerry Garvis Wright, stated on his behalf: "Many years ago, I exchanged texts with a friend who is now using them to craft a bogus lawsuit. There is absolutely no coincidence to the timing of her claims, and we will defend this vigorously in court." White and Zawaideh apparently reached an out-of-court settlement in May 2017, although the terms have not been made publicly available. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Humanberg/status/963699833558192128]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/BrooklynandBo/status/963644090809188352]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/anildash/status/963631756745367552]] We will probably never know, due to the settlement, whether or not the allegations against White are true: the settlement was reached either because White wanted to avoid bad publicity and drawing the trial out, or because he knew that he would be found guilty regardless. Yet a number of advocates have noted that reports of the allegations have been notably absent from journalists' correspondence of the Olympic games, and have accused White of flying under the radar. In an age where men who have abused their positions of power are beginning to be held accountable for their actions, White has more or less escaped notice. At an Olympic Committee news conference held shortly after the big win, White deflected comments about his prior allegations, stating "Honestly, I’m here to talk about the Olympics, not gossip. I am who I am, and I’m proud of who I am and my friends love me and vouch for me and I think that stands on its own." Maybe it did once, but many would now disagree.

The convicted child rapist who was allowed to compete in the Olympics shed tears at his first interview since his appearance at the prestigious event.Van de Velde has admitted that his past behavior was "unacceptable." Credit: Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/GettySteven van de Velde received quite the reception each time he appeared on the volleyball court, but considering he served time for raping a child less than a decade ago, we're not surprised.The 29-year-old was sentenced to four years in a Dutch prison in 2016 after admitting to befriending a 12-year-old girl from Milton Keyes in the United Kingdom on Facebook, before traveling to her location to have sex with her.He was 19 at the time.Van De Velde was previously convicted on three counts of sexual assault against a minor. Credit: Michael Reaves/GettyThe athlete had initially been told that his actions had destroyed his dream of ever representing his country at the Olympics, with Judge Francis Sheridan, telling van de Velde that he could have been a "leader" in his sport, had it not been for his crimes."Prior to coming to this country you were training as a potential Olympian. Your hopes of representing your country now lie as a shattered dream," he told the criminal. "Your actions have wrecked your life and you could, had you never come to England and committed these offenses, have been a leader in your sport."However, in a dramatic U-turn decision supported by both the Dutch volleyball federation and the National Olympic Committee, he was given the opportunity to represent his home nation this year at the 2024 Paris Games, much to the dismay of sports fans.Immers and Van de Velde will go on to compete together in upcoming competitions now that the Olympics are done. Credit: Andre Weening/BSR Agency/GettyThankfully, they didn't have to see him for too long after van de Velde and his partner Immers lost their round of 16 match against Brazil on August 4 and were booted out of the competition.Now, just over a week on the volleyball player has given his first interview following his loss at the Games."I definitely thought about it, yes. I did something wrong, ten years ago. I have to accept that," he told Dutch newspaper NOS Sports. "But hurting people around me - whether it's Matthew, my wife, my child... that just goes too far for me. That's definitely a moment where I thought, is this worth it?"Van de Velde is currently married to volleyball pro Kim Behrens from Germany and the pair share a little boy together.Van de Velde is married and has a son with a fellow professional volleyball player. Credit: Pablo Morano/BSR Agency/Getty ImagesThe 29-year-old was visibly emotional during the interview as he continued: "Someone can hold me responsible for what happened forever. That's okay, someone has the right to do that, but I try to focus on what I can influence. I know this will play a role for the rest of my life. I have to accept that, because I made a mistake."Reflecting on his colleague's controversial history during the competition, Immers also previously doubled down on this sentiment, stating that "He had his punishment.""And now, he's really kind. For me, that's a big example that you can grow. What happened in the past, is not good, of course," he added.Featured Image Credit: Carl Recine/Getty