15 condoms per athelete: Olympians set record

The 10,500 athletes competing at the London Games have been handed out a record number of 150,000 condoms — an average of 15 per athlete — in an indication of the off-field activities of competitors at the Olympics.

The Games organisers have packed the free condoms — reportedly 50,000 more than Beijing Olympics — into dispensers around the venues this year.

The idea that sex can impair physical performance has gripped popular imagination for centuries. However, much to the delight of the sporting fraternity, some recent studies have shown the belief has no scientific basis.

A review of scientific studies on the issue published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine suggested sex the night before competition has no effect on physiological test results.

For years coaches and athletes have practiced abstinence the night, or even weeks, before a big event. “Nothing after Wednesday if you’re playing on Saturday,” was the mantra preached to British football players in the 1970s.

But experts feel the belief has yet to be explored fully. Experts from McGill University in Canada say that so far, having sex has not been found to reduce physical strength, power or endurance. There have been no tests to prove it affects psychological performance.


Courtesy : FirstPost