About 450,000 condoms will be distributed during the Olympic games this summer in Rio de Janeiro, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This is three times the number supplied during the London Games four years ago, reports the Associated Press.
That number includes 100,000 internal, or female, condoms, which the IOC will provide for the first time. In addition, 175,000 packets of lube will be supplied.
The free condoms will be available to the 10,500 athletes and staff, and they’ll be distributed in vending machines as well as at a clinic in the athletes’ village. The goal, said the IOC, is to encourage the athletes to practice safe sex.
When asked by the AP whether the uptick in condom supplies is a result of the Zika virus outbreak in Brazil, the IOC did not respond. The Zika virus can be spread sexually; it is linked to microcephaly, a condition wherein babies are born with undersized heads and brains. But a Brazilian newspaper reported that the IOC said the Zika virus did not play a role in the condom supply increase.
For a look at the history of condoms in the Olympic Village, check out the Slate article “Gold, Silver, Bronze, Latex.”
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