Are condoms at the Olympics an outdated tradition?
— Officially, Beijing banned sex during the Games, but contraceptives were still given out in souvenir sets …
This tradition has been going on for many years. I remember my first Olympics – then there was a fight once morest AIDS. It is clear that among the athletes hardly anyone was sick, but there were exceptions. And condoms at the Olympics – it was such an action through athletes that you must definitely use protective equipment so as not to get sick.
There were always a lot of jokes regarding this, the athletes laughed at the gifts. In 1994, they were hung everywhere, many brought them home as souvenirs.
Therefore, there is no question whether sex is forbidden or not. I am sure that the athletes at the Olympics are definitely not up to it, especially in the two weeks that they are there. Believe me, this is hardly something that worries athletes. The first thing they care regarding right now is not to get sick with the coronavirus.
— Now, apart from the coronavirus, there are many other problems, including political ones. Does this affect the spirit of the athletes or do they go to the Games as if they were a holiday?
– Any coach tries to protect his wards from everything superfluous. Athletes in politics, let’s say, unenlightened. Everyone is focused on the result and understands that due to such external factors, a failure may occur.
At the Games, you need to disconnect from everything and do only what you have been striving for all your life. It happens that fans are perplexed that an athlete reacts differently to something or does not react at all. They will react, but later, because now years of training are at stake.
Many coaches promote this idea to their wards. Whoever can distance himself from the outside world for a while will win. Great coaches like Wiener, Pokrovskaya, Tutberidze, — they accurately protect their athletes from unnecessary information at this point in time.
Yes, this approach is important for sports. Someone will say that this is wrong, but the athletes have a different life, other principles for the period of the competition.
And it is believed that athletes are far from politics. But whoever follows her often loses, missing important moments, being distracted. But following all the starts, you can join the normal rhythm of life, and make up for everything.
— That is, the Olympics is only a game for athletes?
– That is how it should be. When I was distracted by something else, I performed worse. When I was just preparing, the result was not long in coming. Although I was told that I might win the gold medal much earlier, but I was distracted by unnecessary things. I admit my mistakes and encourage others not to do so.
