Rio Olympic Games to offer athletes 450,000 condoms

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) plans to send out as many as 450,000 condoms in the upcoming Rio Olympics in an effort to encourage athletes to have safe sex.

For the first time ever, there will be 100,000 female condoms provided in addition to the 350,000 male condoms. About 175,000 packets of lubricant will also be supplied, the IOC said on Friday.

More than 10,500 athletes across the world will take part in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August and many of them will be sexually active throughout the roughly two-week event.

In the London Games four years ago, the IOC provided 150,000 condoms, the largest "rubber distribution" in Olympic history before the 2016 Games.

It is not clear if the increase is related to Brazil's outbreak of Zika virus, which is carried by mosquitoes and can be transmitted sexually. But some athletes are surely worried.

Earlier this week, an Australian pharmaceutical company said it has teamed up with Ansell, the world's No.2 condom maker, to provide the Australian Olympic team with so-called "Zika virus-proof" condoms.

However, both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization said regular condoms, if applied correctly, can prevent Zika virus transmission. Endi