If you’re following the Winter Olympics currently happening, you’ll agree that something interesting happened last week. 

Athletes competing at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games have reportedly run out of condoms just three days into the Games after the organizers cut the supply from 300,000 to 10,000.

According to the Italian daily La Stampa, the organisers distributed fewer than 10,000 condoms for the Games, far fewer than the 300,000 provided to athletes at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. 

With close to 3,000 athletes participating in Milan 2026, the limited supply was quickly depleted.

Today’s graphic shows the sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates of every country that sent athletes to the games. 

Italy, the host nation, has a rate of 10,372 per 100,000. 

None of this means athletes will transmit STDs. 

But when 3,000 people from 90 countries share a village, an 85% cut in condom supply is not just a logistics failure. It is, by the numbers, a preventable public health gamble.

TL;DR

• South Africa is the participating country with the highest STD rate at 39,597 per 100,000 people. They, however, sent only 5 athletes to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
• The Olympic organizers have been distributing condoms since Seoul 1988 to Milan-Cortina 2026.

For this data, we matched the list of Winter Olympic 2026 participating countries from official records with their STD rates worldwide from the CDC.  

The High-Risk Nations

Some countries that sent athletes’ representatives to the 2026 Winter Olympics rank high on reported STD rates. 

South Africa, with 5 athletes representing, has 39,597 STD cases per 100,000 people. Venezuela, with 1 athlete in the games, has 27,369. Jamaica is being represented by 7 athletes, and the country has an STD rate of 28,983 per 100,000 people.

This places them above many other nations participating in the Olympics when talking about STDs.

Canada, with the second-highest number of athletes at the Winter Olympics (205), has a STD rate of only 12,618 per 100,000 people in its country.

Meanwhile, the high STD report doesn’t directly affect athletic performance; it simply tells broader patterns in health infrastructure, screening prevalence, and social behavior.

Italy’s Own Numbers

Italy is reported to have a sexually transmitted disease (STD) rate of about 10,372 cases per 100,000 people. 

This places it in the mid-range globally and not among the highest-risk nations.

For the local population, a rate of 10,372 per 100,000 simply means that about 10% of Italy’s residents are living with a reported STD. 

This has implications for healthcare planning and public awareness campaigns, even as the country hosts a global event like the Winter Olympics, where increased movement and social interaction can strain public health resources.

The Budget Question

Milano Cortina 2026’s lifetime budget was reportedly set at about €1.7 billion ($1.9 billion).

That figure was intended to cover long-term planning and operational costs for the Winter Olympics, but organizers have noted savings of roughly €290,000 against that budget.

This is because the amount has experienced greater pressure from inflation and rising costs, rather than from immediate savings.

Experts and commentators suggest this is not likely the result of a failed sponsorship deal but rather shows how Olympic organising committees manage minor line-item adjustments and cost pressures. 

However, the IOC’s sponsorship revenue has been under pressure since the departure of major partners, forcing organisers and the IOC to reconsider commercial strategies across the Games.

30 Years of Olympic Condoms

Since they were first freely distributed at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, condoms have been a standard part of the Olympic athletes’ village. 

This was to raise awareness of sexually transmitted infections during the AIDS crisis. 

That original allocation was about 8,500 condoms, and the tradition has continued ever since.

Over the decades, the numbers have grown at several events, from the 1990s to:

ELI5 

Italy reports around 10,372 STD cases, placing it in the mid-range globally and significant enough to need ongoing public health awareness. 

At the same time, the event itself has a lifetime budget of about €1.7 billion (roughly $1.9 billion). Part of Olympic planning has long included promoting sexual health. 

The organizers have distributed condoms in the Athletes’ Village since the 1988 Seoul Games, a tradition that continues through Milan-Cortina 2026. 

Source: 

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