You find this surprising? Here you’ve got a bunch of mostly single, insanely buff young men and women. You take them away from their accustomed surroundings in every corner of the globe and lodge them in the private enclave known as the Olympic Village. Then let them get pumped up with nervous excitement and competitive spirit over several days, throw them a few parties, and supply alcohol. If I’m the manager in charge of Village party favors, my question is: Will 150,000 be enough?
Granted, we don’t have detailed knowledge of what goes on. Olympic swimmer Summer Sanders summed it up thusly: “What happens in the Village stays in the Village.” Nonetheless, the accounts we do have give a pretty clear idea. A 2012 ESPN magazine report based on interviews with numerous athletes uncovered many spicy tales, ranging from same-sex hookups, toys, infidelity, and a group-sex orgy in a whirlpool tub.
Women’s soccer goalie Hope Solo, swimmer Ryan Lochte, and others have gone on record as reporting high levels of sexual activity at the Olympics. “Athletes are extremists,” Solo theorized. “When they’re training, it’s laser focus. When they drink, it’s 20 drinks.” Solo herself gained some notoriety for hinting that she’d sneaked an unnamed celebrity back to her Beijing room for a one-night stand.
During the summer games at least, athletes of both sexes go about their business minimally dressed—recalling Barcelona 1992 in the London Times, British table tennis