Ah, Paris, the City of Love! Or, more likely, the city of 300,000 Olympic-quality hookups, as that's how many condoms were planned for the 2024 Athletes' Village - still, that's only 21ish condoms for each of the 14,250 competitors staying there. That is, until the possible top-up of another 200,000 condoms - bringing the grand total of condoms-per-athlete to just over 35. (We love statistics.) Will it be enough? Who knows!
The Olympic mascot-branded condoms feature cheeky little sayings like "Fair play, safe play; consent first", "On the field of love, play fair - ask for consent", "Score a win: Yes to consent, no to STDs", "Don't share more than victory: Protect yourself against STDs", and (our personal fave) "No need to be a gold medalist to wear it!" Which begs the question: Do any of the medal-winning athletes wear said medals during their bedroom activities? The gold medal weighs 1.17lbs (530g) so we hope everyone is exercising suitable caution.
Speaking of bedrooms, the athletes' cardboard beds are still making the news - and rumors persist, just as they did in Tokyo in 2020/21, that they're designed to be anti-sex and collapse if more than one person tries to climb on. Wrong, say a number of videos on TikTok featuring athletes jumping up and down and hurling themselves onto the beds, which remain rock-solid and intact. We're honestly more worried about the athletes hurting themselves trying to prove the point.
"We designed these cardboard beds so that they can support up to three or four people jumping, because after winning a medal, people are very happy," said Motokuni Takaoka, the president of Airweave, the Japanese company that manufactured the beds for both Tokyo and Paris. The thought of happy athletes jumping up and down on their cardboard bed in celebration is probably the most wholesome thing we've heard about those beds.
And here's a little bit of info you might not have known: Airweave custom-produced each mattress based on the individual athletes' body type, height, and weight. Pre-Olympics, athletes were encouraged to send in a photo and body measurements to get the best bedding recommendation, but those who didn't can visit "fitting booths" at the Village for advice.
The beds themselves can hold up to 440lbs (200kg) so and the only thing anti-sex about them seems to be that some athletes are finding them uncomfortable and wanting mattress toppers. So if they're not getting a good night's sleep anyway, they may as well find other things to use the beds for? They'll be recycled post-Olympics anyway, along with the mattresses.
The Paris Olympics-branded comforters, however, athletes can take home with them. A little souvenir of those hot summer nights in the most romantic city in the world? Or perhaps a consolation prize for those who didn't medal in their sport? Either way, we don't think we've seen the last of those cardboard beds or the videos of people jumping on them. C'est la vie!
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Dating
I still live with my parents... What are the rules around bringing home a hookup?
In this economy, it's not all that uncommon to stay living at home for a few years after graduating, or to come back home post-college and bunk in your parents' basement. So what do you do if you want to bring a date home for the night?
