A familiar storyline has already emerged at the 2026 Winter Olympics—and it has nothing to do with medals.
Inside the Olympic Village in Milan-Cortina, a supply of approximately 10,000 free condoms was fully depleted within three days. The rapid shortage caught athletes off guard, with some saying the supply had already disappeared by the time they arrived.
“The supplies ran out in just three days,” one athlete told NBC News. “They promised us more will arrive, but who knows when.”
Event organizers have confirmed that additional shipments are being arranged, though a restock timeline has not been publicly detailed.
While the Winter Games feature a smaller athlete pool—just under 3,000 competitors—the demand for condoms has remained consistent with past Olympic trends. The distribution of free condoms has been standard practice since the 1988 Seoul Olympics, when the initiative was introduced to promote safe sex and raise awareness about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
The number provided this year stands in sharp contrast to recent Summer Games. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, approximately 300,000 condoms were made available to athletes, averaging out to about two per day per participant. The significantly smaller supply in Milan Cortina appears to have contributed to the early shortage.
Italian publication La Stampa reported that organizers were “not particularly generous with the numbers” compared to previous Games. Despite the reduced scale of the Winter Olympics, the initial supply was exhausted quickly.
Lombardy regional governor Attilio Fontana addressed the topic publicly, emphasizing that the distribution is part of long-standing Olympic policy.
“Yes, we provide free condoms to athletes in the Olympic village,” he said. “If this seems strange to some, they’re unaware of the established Olympic practice… a topic that shouldn’t cause embarrassment.”
Free condoms are typically made available throughout the Games, often branded with host city or regional logos.
