MOSCOW, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Incheon Asian Games in South Korea are witnessing a surprising rush, as athletes from different participating countries have lined line up for free condoms being given out by the organizers, AFP reported on Thursday.
"We've been handing out condoms over the past three days but their daily ration of 5,000 runs out quickly every day," AFP quotes Choi Hyeung-Dae, an Organizing Committee official, as saying.
"But this does not mean that athletes have already been engaged in bed-hopping. I think most of them just want to keep them as souvenirs", he stated.
Choi Hyeung-Dae explained that the colors of the condom wrappings might be somewhat misleading as they are yellow and opaque, with the games emblem on them; some athletes may believe they could be badges or other mementos.
The Incheon Asian Games, with about 10,000 athletes from 45 countries taking part, kick off on Thursday night at the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium in South Korea.
Choi said organizers expect to hand out about 100,000 condoms until October 3, the closing day of the event.
Handing out condoms is not an unusual practice for such large competitionsa. About 8,500 condoms were passed out when Seoul hosted the 1988 Olympics.
The number rose to 50,000 at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and 150,000 at the 2012 London Olympics.
