London 2012 are investigating how a bucket of unofficial condoms found its way into the athletes’ village without official consent.
The Australian BMX cyclist Caroline Buchanan tweeted a photograph of the bucket, which featured a sign reading “Kangaroos condoms, for the gland downunder”, and a picture of a boxing kangaroo.
She joked that bucket seemed to back up rumours that the village becomes a hot bed of activity as thousands of competitors complete their events and celebrate after years of working to get to the Olympics — tweeting: “Haha, the rumours are true. Olympic village.”
Barcelona started the trend of supplying free condoms to athletes when the Spanish city held the Olympics in 1992, with the International Olympic Committee endorsing the move.
The London Olympic organisers provided 150,000 free condoms in dispensers for the 10,800 athletes at the Games, supplied by Durex which paid for the supply rights.
A LOCOG spokeswoman said they were trying to find out who distributed the Kangaroo condoms, with the container shown to hold condoms from Durex’s rivals Ansell Ltd, an Australian company, and Pasante, a private British firm.
She said athletes and officials were allowed to bring products into the village for their personal use.
“We will look into this and ask that they are not handed out to other athletes because Durex are our supplier,” said the spokeswoman.
Football fan’s 450km mistake
One unlucky ticket holder missed out on watching Olympic football on Saturday as he turned up at the wrong venue — 450km away from where he should have been.
The surprised football fan was told by a Gamesmaker when he arrived at St James’s Park in London ready to watch the men’s quarterfinals that he should have been at St James’ Park, Newcastle (note the extra ‘s’ in the capital’s version).
Collins thrills the Main Press Centre
There are tribute bands — Bjorn Again, Bootleg Beatles, Counterfeit Stones, No Way Sis et al — and there are tribute bands who choose a name perhaps a bit too close to the real thing.
Widespread bemusement met Monday night’s announcement of an imminent set by Phil Collins at the Main Press Centre, which has hosted a variety of musical performances since the Games began. After further investigation, we can confirm that ‘Thrill’ Collins were in the house. Disappointed? Not really. Confused? Definitely.
Brownlee brothers’ unlikely warm-down
After winning gold and bronze respectively in a gruelling men’s triathlon on Tuesday, how did the brothers Brownlee, Alistair and Jonny (GBR), make their glorious exit from Hyde Park?
Chauffeur? Horse-drawn carriage? Atop the shoulders of adoring British fans? By ambulance, even? After all, the medal ceremony was delayed so that younger sibling Jonny could be treated for exhaustion.
Actually, it was none of the above. Just moments after hearing their national anthem, the pair were seen by the Eye… cycling away from the scene of their triumph. As in on their bikes. Iron men, indeed.
-With The Daily Star input
