Sex and the Olympic Village

A very entertaining article in The Times today regarding Olympians and sex. The author, former Olympian Matthew Syed, discusses just what goes on behind closed doors (and sometimes on rooftops) at the Olympic village. He offers the usual bag of "reasons why" (testosterone, being away from home, etc.) but it's presented in a light and humorous manner, a good read. Consider the opener:

I am often asked if the Olympic village - the vast restaurant and housing conglomeration that hosts the world's top athletes for the duration of the Games - is the sex-fest it is cracked up to be. My answer is always the same: too right it is. I played my first Games in Barcelona in 1992 and got laid more often in those two and a half weeks than in the rest of my life up to that point. That is to say twice, which may not sound a lot, but for a 21-year-old undergraduate with crooked teeth, it was a minor miracle.

But my favorite is:

Which all begs a question, or possibly many questions. First, and most importantly, how can one get access to the village?

More like this

Alpine skiiers Heidi Kloser, 21, (US); Rok Perko, 28, (Slovenia); Brice Roger, 23, (France); and Maggie Voisin, 15, (US), are some of the athletes whose dreams of an Olympic medal have come to an end. All suffered serious injuries during training or qualifying runs, which will prevent them from…
Some people erroneously, since the U.S. water supply system is actually cleaner than most bottled waters, buy bottled water to avoid contaminated water. Unfortunately, there's no way to buy bottled air. And in Beijing, air pollution is a real threat. Last time there was a major smog outbreak in…
Why Rage? Because Henry inspired me (though Mrs.Gee made him edit out the 'excessive' language). Why 2.0? Because I am all gung-ho about everything 2.0. So there! So, like Henry, I will now proceed to rage about something.... Hotels I've been traveling a lot lately, often staying in some very top…
The Denver Post reports on a talk by hyperconservative Justice Antonin Scalia at a religious conference: The 75-year-old Scalia said that today one can believe in a creator and the teachings of Jesus without being the brunt of too much ridicule, but that to hold traditional Christian beliefs that…

I read one of these articles every four years. Sometimes this makes me think I wish I was good enough in some sport when I was young to qualify for the Olympics. I could never get close to the Olympic level in any equestrian sport, and karate will join the event in 2012, about 30 years after my competitive prime.... ah well.

The Olympics really do bring the world together.

Coturnix: Sometimes this makes me think I wish I was good enough in some sport when I was young to qualify for the Olympics.

I had the same thought (only there is no "sometimes" about it). I'm never going to feel sorry for all of those athletes who put in all the hard work and have been so dedicated over the last few years so that they can participate in the Olympics. Sounds like no matter how poorly they perform in the games, they've got plenty of other opportunities to score big at the Village.

By Lofcaudio (not verified) on 22 Aug 2008 #permalink

Sounds like there is more testosterone in the olympic village than the East German women's swim team of old.

Good for those athletes. Hope they have plenty of free condoms available. Oh, that could make such a great ad:
"What happens when you bring together the worlds best athletes?... Trojan, the official condom of the Olympic Games!"

Hmmm, maybe that explains what happened to Adam van Koeverden today. He was worn out, shag tired!