Leftover Olympic condoms to go under the hammer

WHEN the curtain came down on the Beijing Olympics last year, one bright spark decided to help himself to athletes' leftovers, and by that I don't mean half a plate of chicken chow mein.

PARTY TIME: Left over condoms from Beijing Olympics to go under the hammer (Getty Images)

While the celebrations were in full swing in the Chinese capital, said spark rounded up 5000 condoms of the 100,000 distributed free to the athletes.

And the stockpile is now being put up for auction.

Now two things immediately spring to mind.

Firstly, the collector was surely a touch on the optimistic side in predicting somewhat of an Indian summer in the bedroom - to get through all 5000 by now would put any Olympic feats in Beijing to shame.

Secondly, the athletes must have been at it like proverbial rabbits to plough their way through 95,000 rubber raincoats in two weeks - the Olympic Village must have been a Shangri-La of shagging.   

So anyone who wants to prove their Olympic credentials in the sack can do so with a starting price of eight pence [one yuan] in the one-off auction.

But there's just one problem. The trove must be bought in bulk at the "Exceptional Auction of China Sport Collection" on 29 November.  

"The move is to grab more attention from the public to promote the awareness of safe sex and the prevention of HIV/AIDS," said Guo Lei of the Sport Collection of China Collector Association, the auction's host.

Fair enough, a worthy cause. But auctioneer Guo Lei has spotted a potential problem.

"Although anyone married should be interested for their practical use, some people will be too shy to bid for the condoms," he told the China Daily Newspaper.

So any bashful bidders might be put off splashing the cash for fear of announcing to the world their luxuriant libidos.

Or perhaps they will be bought, not for use but purely as a collector's item.

But with the Beijing Olympics motto - faster, higher, stronger - emblazoned on every single one, I for one feel they deserve a more hedonistic home.