Winter Olympics 2018: More than fun and games in Pyeongchang as athletes take to Tinder, PornHub

The Olympic Games — Summer and Winter — not only showcase the best of the best in the world of sports, but they also serve as a place for athletes from various corners of the world to meet and…err… socialise. And socialise they do. With athletes at the peak of their physical prowess living in close proximity, it comes across as no surprise that the Olympic Village at Pyeongchang has become a hotbed for sexual activity with organisers having distributed a record 110,000 condoms (which translates to around 38 condoms per competitor, the largest number of free condoms given out at a Winter Games). [caption id=“attachment_4362763” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The Games Village at Pyeongchang[/caption] According to AFP, rubber manufacturer Convenience Co donated most of the condoms, and a spokesman said coyly in the lead-up to the Olympics: “We don’t expect the athletes to use them all.” Athletes have also extensively relied on the internet to fulfill their sexual needs with the dating app Tinder and pornographic website Pornhub seeing a massive surge in user traffic. Tinder said it has seen a 348 percent increase in usage at Pyeongchang, compared to the usage of the app in the area before the Olympics began. South Korea is not one of Tinder’s top 10 markets so it could also make some headway in the country during the Olympics. “Every Olympics we hear that Tinder is ‘on fire’ in the villages and we notice our usage increase significantly when people from around the world gather for an event,” a spokeswoman told Reuters. The most popular athletes on Tinder at the Olympics in Pyeongchang are male bobsledders and female snowboarders, the dating app added. Meanwhile, the folks at PornHub revealed that they saw an 85 percent increase in traffic in the Gangwon-do area where the Olympic Village is located. The press release attributed the spike to “the influx of Olympic athletes, press and spectators.” [caption id=“attachment_4362707” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Image courtesy: Pornhub/insights[/caption] PornHub also looked at the most popular searches and found that “threesomes” were the most searched item on their site during the Olympics. Speaking to USA Today, a female athlete quipped, “And you’re surprised by that? It makes perfect sense. For guys, they like being part of a team. For women, it is about efficiency. You’re trying to get as much as you can in the shortest time possible.” Tinder has seen major spikes in usage at the Olympics since it caught on during the last Winter Games in Sochi in 2014. An American speed skater is also among the athletes on Tinder but several other competitors appear to have taken down their profiles after news spread that Olympic competitors were using the app, according to AFP. It also gave free access to Olympians staying in the athletes’ village to its paid “gold” tier during the Games. The “gold” tier is not special for the Olympics and was introduced six months ago. It is not just athletes connecting with each other at the Games. Tinder has a feature that allows users from around the world to change their location to any city, including the Olympic Village. So far, app users based in the United States, Sweden and Great Britain are trying the most to connect with Olympians in Pyeongchang. Tinder added 1.5 million paid subscribers last year, compared with about 9,00,000 in 2016, Match Group said earlier this month. Its core product is still free. With inputs from agencies.