This summer, 300,000 condoms will be distributed to athletes in the Olympic village. Enough to rekindle their fantasies about sexuality. Two specialists are doing accounting.
300,000 condoms will be distributed to athletes in the Olympic Village. This was announced by the director of the Olympic Village, Laurent Michaud, at the microphone Sky News on March 15. Information that revives preconceived notions about the sexuality of high-level athletes. Is it true that sex before the event is not recommended? Does sexual frustration make you more productive? So myth or scientific reality? We take into account.
No sex before the event
This is the most common myth. it would be unwise for them to have sex the day before the competition. Not really, says Helen Jonsherai, a researcher in the sociology of high performance sport at the Sport, Expertise and Performance Laboratory at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (INSEP). “First of all, it would not be ethical for a coach to interfere with an athlete’s sexual life,” he emphasizes, “then nothing scientifically supports the claim that sexual intercourse has a physiological effect on sports performance.”
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“If an athlete has sex, it’s because it gives them pleasure and it can’t cause any harm,” says INSEP gynecologist and sports doctor Karol Maiter. There is no medical prohibition. Especially since the expenditure of energy will not prevent you from performing the next day, let’s not forget that most of the athletes participating in the games are young people under 30 years old.
There is no scientific evidence to prove that intercourse has a physiological effect on athletic performance.
Helen Jonsherai, Researcher in the Sociology of High Performance Sport at the INSEP Sport, Expertise and Performance Laboratory
83% of top athletes believe that their sexuality does not affect their athletic performance. This was revealed in 2016 by the National Sports Institute among 341 athletes aged 18 to 30. 53% of them also said that they haven’t changed their sex life since the competition. And if 95% of those who changed it reduced the frequency of their reports before and during the contest, then increased it after the tests were completed, then the whole thing was motivated “solely by personal choice, the need to focus, or a matter of organization (Spouses are not required to attend the Olympic Villages, Editor’s Note),” notes Carol Maitre.
Helen Jonsherai confirms that choosing to have sex the day before the event is therefore a matter of personal preference and routine. “It’s part of everyone’s daily routine, and it all depends on how the athlete perceives or not the connection between performance and sexual activity,” he says. Some will be calmer, others will be afraid, for example, of significant energy costs…
Sexual frustration = fulfillment
According to popular belief, sexual frustration improves athletic performance. “It’s completely false,” comments Carol Maitre. On the contrary, frustration leads to loss of concentration, which is really undesirable during competition. Performance is the result of regular training, technique, optimization of physical and psychological abilities (knowing how to retreat, manage the stress of competition, etc.). It was not found in the impulse associated with the frustration reaction.
On the contrary, frustration leads to loss of concentration, which is really undesirable during competition.
Carole Maître, INSEP gynecologist and sports doctor
Even more so when we know that one of the elements of athletic performance is personal development, which strengthens motivation and commitment. “Sexuality is a part of personal and family well-being,” recalls the sports doctor. Which cannot be said in case of disappointment.
Source: Le Figaro
