Partying changes the mood of the Olympic Village (Feature)

Beijing - Discovering the advantages of international love, volunteering to try out one of the more than 100,000 condoms being handed out in the Village, or simply out to party in an attempt to drink the cup of Olympic experience down to the last drop. Less than a week remains of Beijing 2008, and the Olympic Village can now be subdivided into two clearly-distinguishable classes - those who have already competed and those who have not. The first group is putting growing pressure on the second, as those who are yet to perform see the Village lose the focus on sport that it had earlier to become an explosive mix of hormones. 'You see more and more couples, there is a lot of hooking up. And it is the mix of races that many people are looking for,' a Mexican volleyball player, already out of the competition, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. 'And with the Russian, Czech and Slovak specimens you see, the material is unbeatable.' In the four weeks and more it is set to remain open, the Olympic Village will see some 16,000 athletes and coaches from every corner of the world. Young and strong men and women, full of energy, who arrived in Beijing looking for a success that only a few can obtain. However, other achievements are possible. 'You have 16,000 athletes in the Village, and it is very likely that some boys will like some girls and that, in turn, will lead to sex,' said Dutch baseballer Jeroen Sluitjer, 33. 'And if there are free condoms going around, people will feel like using them.' The story about athletes and free condoms has been recurring since Barcelona 1992, when they were first handed out in a campaign against AIDS. The campaign worked. In Sydney 2000, the local daily Sydney Morning Herald published a brief article in which a Village employee left the kind of stuff that myths are made of by saying that Cuban athletes were using up all the condoms. Eight years later there are still condoms around, and there are 30,000 more than the 70,000 that ran out in the Australian city, leading Village authorities to order an extra 20,000. According to British rower Matthew Pinsent, the atmosphere in the Village is 'intoxicating,' with 'thousands of sportsmen at the peak of their strength.' However, Pinsent made a call for restraint. 'Wait till you have a medal round your neck,' he told his teammates. However, fewer and fewer people are listening to him. 'People are going out more and more. The judokas, who are already done, the swimmers,' the Mexican volleyballer said. 'And there is one place that no one wants to miss, the Dutch House. That is definitely wild.'