Reuters Published on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008 12:00AM EDT Last updated on Friday, Mar. 13, 2009 10:14AM EDT
The Sydney Olympics ran out. Athens doubled the number. So organizers of the Beijing Games are hoping 100,000 condoms will satisfy the needs of all athletes.
Athletes have received free condoms at every Olympics since Barcelona in 1992 to help raise awareness of AIDS.
At the Sydney Games in 2000, athletes quickly exhausted a supply of 70,000, and 20,000 more had to be brought in.
The American Foundation for AIDS Research said 100,000 were distributed at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 after a plan to distribute 250,000 condoms was met by protests from religious groups.
About 130,000 condoms were distributed in Athens in 2004.
Chinese manufacturer Elasun runs ads featuring a stickman swimming over a rippled condom like a wave, riding two condom rings like a bicycle, and using a condom as a basketball hoop.
Condoms depicting the five Olympic mascots are also for sale on various online sites, although nowhere to be seen in official merchandise stories.
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