Typically, athletes who represent their countries at the Olympic Games will be given souvenirs to remind them of the time they spent competing with each other in a foreign country.

That way, those who did not win with medals will not be going home empty-handed.

But this year, the souvenir they will be getting at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is a little bit, umm, quirky.

Hidden message behind the souvenir

According to SoraNews24, the organisers of the Tokyo Olympics, which is scheduled to begin on 23 July, will be giving out more than 160,000 condoms as souvenirs.

(However, there was no mention whether the condoms will be flavoured or ribbed)

Anyway, the souvenir is chosen by the organisers in a bid to raise awareness about sexually-transmitted diseases.

But here's the thing though: despite giving the athletes condoms as souvenirs, the organisers are not encouraging them to use it at the games village due to the fear of COVID-19.

The report said that instead, the condoms were meant to be brought back to the athletes' respective countries and then they are free to use them.

In fact, the organising committee is so concerned about athletes bumping uglies with each other during the Olympic Games and breaking all physical distancing rule, they are reportedly coming up with a specific distribution process, which includes giving out the condoms only after the Games are done and athletes are leaving the village.

Not a new thing

While it may seem weird that the organisers of the Olympic Games would be giving out condoms, this is not a new thing though.

Condom distribution has been a long-standing tradition at the Games, which started at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in a bid to raise awareness about HIV, Business Insider reported.

A condom vending machine at the 2016 Rio Games.
In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the organisers reportedly supplied 100,000 condoms while at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, an all-time record of 450,000 condoms were distributed to the athletes.

Hey, it's better to be safe than sorry, right?