Three thousand of the most talented athletes on this planet at the end of a four year qualifying grind, and what you get is a “sex fest,” a term coined by U.S. Soccer Women’s National team goalie Hope Solo after the 2010 Summer Olympics in London. American target shooter Josh Lakatos, who competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, spoke at length about what he had seen during his stay in the Olympic Village in a interview with ESPN.
“I’ve never witnessed so much debauchery in my entire life,” Lakatos said. “The entire women’s 4×100 relay team of some Scandinavian-looking country walks out of the house, followed by boys from our side.
Following the 2000 Olympics, Olympic officials placed a standing order for 100,000 condoms per Olympics, after 70,000 was not enough.
In an interview with ESPN, Solo was by far the most forthcoming with details.
“I’ve seen people having sex right out in the open,” Solo said. “On the grass, between buildings, people are getting down and dirty.”
Athletes have only recently become open on this issue, with past Olympians responding to questions from reporters with variations of “What happens in the Olympic Village, stays in the Olympic Village.”
In an article for the Times of London, former Olympian Matthew Syed claimed sex was quite commonplace at the Olympics.
“Olympic athletes have to display an unnatural … level of self-discipline in the build-up to big competitions. How else is this going to manifest itself than with a volcanic release of pent-up hedonism?” Syed said.
And according to psychologist Judy Kuriansky, who has attended multiple Olympics, sex in the Olympic village makes sense from a psychological standpoint.
“You are psychologically turned to an earlier sense of camp or college. They sleep in these little bunks in suites with common areas. It lends itself to that kind of lifestyle,” Kuriansky said in an interview with ABC. “There is a sense that they are special. They are special”
Not everyone agrees with what the majority of the media says about the Olympic Village. Some athletes, such as cyclist Jill Kintner, feel the media does a disservice to the athletes who compete.
“There are thousands of athletes who compete at the Olympics,” Kintner said in an interview with ABC. Everyone is there to put their best foot forward, but not everyone is going to medal and be super busy. Once the job is done, there are parties and celebrations all over the city hosted by sponsors or whoever to unwind a bit. The stress and pressure of the Olympics is unparalleled, so I think it’s normal to want to have some fun after the job is done.”
Senior Lily Zhang, who attended the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, was able to share first hand accounts of life in the village.
“There were definitely parties at the olympics, and since alcohol is technically not allowed inside the olympic village, a lot of athletes went into the city for parties or the U.S.A. House, which was always very lively,” Zhang said.
At the same time, Zhang says it might not be what it’s built up to be in the media.
“As for sex, I personally don’t think it’s as crazy as the press blows it up,” Zhang said. It’s not like there are athletes just doing it in public or anything. It’s pretty private for the most part.
However, Zhang confirmed that the press isn’t simply making everything up.
“They do provide condoms and everything and another athlete told me they ran out when he went to go get some,” Zhang said.
