10,000 Condom Packs Exhausted, Unexpected Crisis Emerges At Winter Olympics
Organisers of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics have exhausted their initial supply of 10,000 free condoms at the athletes village just days into the Games.
Not the sort of developments that come out of the Olympics village. A rather unexpected crisis has emerged at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, as the organisers have run out of free condoms provided at the athletes' village just a few days after the competition began. The initial stock of 10,000 packs provided by organisers has reportedly been exhausted, leaving officials in desperate need of more supplies. The athletes have started to complain, even though promises have been made by the organisers, though a definitive timeline isn't known yet.
"The supplies ran out in just three days," an anonymous athlete told Italian newspaper La Stampa. "They promised us more will arrive, but who knows when."
The organising committee was caught off guard by the high demand for condoms. It is now scrambling to arrange additional distribution for the remainder of the Games.
They were "particularly generous with the numbers". "In Paris the athletes received 300,000 condoms - two per day each - but the numbers for these Winter Games were significantly lower: not even 10,000," La Stampa's report states.
Last week the governor of the Lombardy region, Attilio Fontana, spoke about the topic of free condom supplies in the Games village. "Yes, we provide free condoms to athletes in the Olympic village," he said in a social media post. "If this seems strange to some, they're unaware of the established Olympic practice. It began in Seoul 1988 to raise awareness among athletes and young people about sexually transmitted disease prevention - a topic that shouldn't cause embarrassment."
Fontana also shared an Instagram post by the Spanish figure skater Olivia Smart, who shared a video on Instagram, highlighting condoms with the yellow Lombardy Region logo.
"I found them," she said in the clip, which went viral. "They have everything you need."
The Games village also offers athletes a large gym, table football and air hockey games and even a piano. Free drinks machines, stocked with Coca-Cola and smoothies, are also available.