libido, frustration and performance… Four questions on preconceived ideas surrounding the sexuality of high-level athletes

The Paris 2024 Olympic Village will provide athletes and their teams with more than 230,000 condoms for the period of the Games next summer. A free provision which is customary during Olympic competitions which attract millions of visitors from five continents. More than 450,000 protections were distributed in Rio in 2016, 160,000 in Tokyo in 2021. Paris, the “City of love”, is therefore within a reasonable average.

But preconceived ideas about the sexuality of high-level athletes persist. Carole Maître, gynecologist and sports doctor at INSEP (the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance) answers it.

Does sporting activity lead to an increase in libido?

Are sportsmen and women hot dogs? No, no more than the average, answers Carole Maitre categorically. “Their sexuality is like that of the general population. According to a survey we did a few years ago, their frequency of sexual intercourse is the same as in the general population of their age”specifies the specialist.

From a purely physical point of view, sporting activity has no impact on libido. It can increase testosterone levels “within normal limits”, specifies the doctor. Conversely: “Intensive sports such as long-distance running, cycling and all sports that lead to a reduction in fat mass are accompanied by an energy deficit which can be accompanied by a reduction in testosterone.”

Thus, more than half of athletes do not change their sexual activity before, during or after competitions.

Does sexual frustration improve sports performance?

“Frustration of any kind – sexual or otherwise – does not lead to performance”underlines Carole Maître, specifying that “It’s even rather contradictory.” According to the specialist, “you have to be good in your body, in your mind to perform well. So there is the part of training, but there is also the part of personal development. It is undeniable, the two are really intimately related.”

Carole Maître adds that “Athletes learn stress management and to anticipate environmental pressures, depending on the challenges of the competitions.” Preserving family and personal balance is therefore essential. “Sexuality enters the personal domain, so it is part of it but it is not only that, adds Carole Maitre.We can very well have an athlete who is going to perform, even though he or she has not had sexual activity for six months.” Thus, underlines the sports doctor, “more than 80% of athletes consider that their sexuality has no impact on their sporting results.”

The stress factor, moreover, does not seem to factor into the sexual activity of athletes, specifies the sports doctor. “Overall, they do not increase their sexuality before competitions. Everyone experiences it in their privacy, according to their relationships, according to what they want. Neither doctors, nor coaches, nor anyone interferes in the intimate sphere of sportsmen and women.”

Do some coaches pursue “sex politics”?

During the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the newspaper The Team had revealed that the players’ families had been authorized by Didier Deschamps to visit them. An indiscretion which had awakened fantasies about the influence of the coach on the privacy of his players, or even a real “sex politics”.

There is no “no such adviceinsists the sports doctor. A world championship in Qatar means moving away from the family and personal sphere. Some players were young dads. It’s part of maintaining the balance between the challenge of competition and personal life. To have allowed this presence of companions and children is important for the personal balance and development of each person.” A moment which does not prevent the athletes from investing in the competition.

On this subject, Carole Maître explains that this summer in Paris,“near the Olympic village, there will be possibilities for those who wish to have a companion with the children. This is important, it is also part of the athlete’s life. It is a man, a woman, who works his body at a high level, with the objective of having these results but personal balance is an integral part of performance.”

Are the Olympics driving up STI numbers?

The distribution of condoms is part of a more general campaign to prevent the transmission of sexual diseases. The period of the Olympic Games is a time of great mixing of populations: athletes, staff, employees, volunteers, millions of spectators… “As in any large gathering, we will fear what is transmissible. STIs, but also seasonal respiratory infections too. But not more STIs than other risks“, decides the specialist. Prevention of public health risks “is part of the responsibility of the organizers of major events. And it’s very good that there is no taboo on the subject!”

However, the quantity of condoms distributed – 230,000 – is not representative of the sexual activity of athletes during the Games period: “It will meet needs, but not all of them will necessarily be used by athletes. There are even a certain number that will be considered collector’s items.”