Thursday, August 2, 2012

Sex and the Olympics


By Becky Moore

Just before leaving my full-time position as the grant writer and public affairs officer for a non-profit organization providing housing, medication, and supportive services for folks living with HIV/AIDS, I was on the panel that interviewed and hired the new Director of Housing. He was a crowd pleaser … big and broad and incredibly sexy. A brick shithouse kind of man with carved shoulders as sharp as Michelangelo’s David. A little moody, a lot stand-offish, and a quiet introvert. He and I worked really well together because we didn’t manage each other, weren’t on the same team, and he could let his guard down with my married self. He was a sprinter, and training for the Olympics. Oh, yeah. 

I was disheartened to learn last month that he’d been injured and unable to attend the final preliminary trials, but am happy to have been a peripheral part of his journey for the last three years. My son is a soccer player and a runner, and loved to talk to James about how to make his body work more efficiently. Our family is really active, but our son has runs circles around my soul mate and I. Plus, who wants to listen to your mom talk about high school Varsity soccer, or college intermural soccer when you have a real, live quasi-Olympian? Geesh.

It was learning to think about his body as a machine, a tool for his trade of fast footwork that helped our son figure out that stretching out is a benefit; jogging in between soccer practice and games is a good thing; and hydrating well is next to godliness. It’s a mindset, for sure.

We don’t typically watch sports on television, but the Olympics are different. When do you get to watch Dressage, synchronized diving, water polo, beach volleyball, skeet shooting, javelin throwing, and rowing in the same day? It’s great. But then again, when do you get to see world-class, high-powered, super-fit men and women athletes crammed together in one general location? Only at the Olympics.
I first tuned in to the Olympic Village sex scene about six years ago when I started my job at AAS-C (the HIV/AIDS organization). The Prevention Education department was one of my favorite group of people to work with because not only were they the frontline community defense against the spread of HIV disease … if you don’t have HIV disease, then you need to know how to NOT get it; and if you have it, then you need to know how to NOT spread it … but they always had the best stories and toys. Because they ordered condoms and packets of lubrication in the hundreds of thousands each year, they were like the superstars of the Trojan world. And after the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008, we fought over the cool posters that came in the condom packaging. Turns out the extracurricular activities at the Olympic Village share Las Vegas’ credo: what happens at the Village stays at the Village.



If you haven’t seen them, you’re probably not alone. I worked in the industry and had no idea about them, or the Olympic condom situation. Well, could be it’s because I’ve been married since 1994 and our relationship is monogamous, and condoms are so not on our radar. The ads were great fun, but the statistics are so much better. Think the athletes are chaste virgins? Nope. They’re animals in the prime of their physical development. Ripped, raring and ready to go. Thank goodness for condoms, because all of the games are inevitable.


I find I prefer the debauchery. I mean, it’s pretty amazing to see Michael Phelps flying through the water, surging ahead of his international competition. But it’s the possibility of a glimpse of those abs and oblique’s that hold my eyes glued to the boob tube. Seriously. Good grief, is there anything more disappointing than thinking Phelps goes back to his room and plays Pinochle every night?

Here are some interesting articles. Maybe they’ll set you on the path to a more streamlined, active self. If you could play at the Olympic Village, it would be worth a couple of sit-ups, huh?




9 comments:

Becky Moore said...

Looks great! Oh--I've got to go. The water polo team just took to the water!

Avid Reader said...

I think the condoms looking like the Olympic Rings are a hoot. A view of the Olympic "Games" I'd not thought of before.

Laci said...

Great blog! That's something I never knew, and the condom company must love the Olympics!

I have really enjoyed watching the male divers with their little speedo's on ;) If I enjoy them on TV I can only imagine who is enjoying them in the village up close.

Makes me wonder how the condoms are distributed...do they sign them out? are they handed out to everyone? or do they have them sitting around in candy dishes?

Becky Moore said...

That's a good question, Laci. At my former agency, we had condoms and packets of lube in bowls on the desk. They were available for people to just walk in and get some. We figured at least they were being smart for whatever number of condoms they took. My guess, with these athletes, is that however appealling it might seem to hook up with someone, they understand the importance of their physical health. I bet STDs and pregnancy are SO not on their training agendas.

desitheblonde said...

at leat the Olympic are not jugeing the gay or bi form the sport they are just human and they re greet people

Barbara Elsborg said...

Play hard and play safe! I wonder if that order of more condoms was done as a joke. I can imagine a group getting together and saying, let's tell the organizers we've run out. Olympic medal given for most times an athlete had sex!

Just Natalie said...

Just read the total condom count was 150,000. That's like one per athlete per day.

bn100 said...

Interesting post.

Amarjeet Prasad said...

Sound good.
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