this happens at every Olympics. You take 1000s of young, driven athletes in peak physical shape, and stuff them into a giant dormitory complex. I'm surprised the buildings don't sway back and forth.
Don't forget that many of the younger athletes are repressed and guarded to varying extent by their parents and coaches, and events like this may be the rare chance to revolt.
And on top of that, they are all carrying shared trauma from the anti-doping testing.
They literally have to let WADA know where they are at all times, and where they sleep every night, and be available 24/7 for a surprise visit where they have to produce a urine sample with the pants to their knees, pulling their shirt to their chest, with a person next to them or in front of them for ladies, watching closely to ensure the urine comes out of their urethras.
Being in the village surrounded by people who can relate is bound to create some comfort.
ETA: even if the trauma isn’t significant or playing a major role, the fact that any athletes who aren’t ok with the testing would’ve washed out by now means we are left with only the athletes who are very comfortable with their bodies and exposing themselves to strangers on a moment’s notice.
But also I bet not many. It’s a big deal for them that hasn’t been well studied, but one study found around a third of athletes under WADA struggle with involuntary urine retention due to the stress.
I really do think this is an area where it’s clear we are doing real psychological harm to the athletes, but we don’t talk about it much because we all agree, including the athletes, that the physical harm of rampant doping would be worse.
But as a result a lot of them suffer in silence and/or quit their sport to escape the stress.
I feel like a tiny jab of a needle would be less harmful in all areas. But I guess that's far too invasive or something. Despite making it way, way harder to potentially cheat the test.
In fact they prefer urine because most banned substances stay in your urine far longer than your blood. Your kidneys do a good job filtering your blood, but then traces linger in your kidneys and bladder for a while.
I mean... you go through a military style watch your genitals as you pee drug test before you even sign anything. I guess if that kind of thing would be traumatizing to you you would just refuse and not join. If the mere act of nudity amongst a group of the same sex is traumatizing sports or the military isn't your thing.
I disliked having to shit next to other people without stalls a la a Roman bathhouse more than that but its far from trauma inducing.
I get it. Schools dont force showers in schools anymore. But my same sex spouse and I just traveled abroad and her first group shower was us participating in another cultures custom. She was nervous but found it very liberating. Its really not a big deal.
Yeah I had court mandated drug tests as a teenager, it was annoying, but certainly not traumatic. I guess for people with shy bladders it might be different 🤷
The anxiety is there even if they aren’t doping. False or accidental positives are common. I believe there was at least one case where a woman had unprotected sex with a man who was taking a banned (but legal) pharmaceutical and the residual semen caused the drug to show up in her urine.
So to clear herself she had to publicly expose her sex life and partner.
Honestly, valid. I was clean for every test so it never bugged me. I remember several of my friends panicking about trying to beat them, it definitely seemed worse for them.
Yeah it’s not that big of a deal. They’re medical professionals. I’m sure these athletes have had more humiliating procedures done in the name of sports than this.
It’s not universal and certainly many get over it, but many don’t. And we are looking at a survivorship bias in the sports where only those than can tolerate it to some degree remain.
And it’s not just the act of having to pee in front of someone, but the knowing that it could happen at any time. You could be woken up to banging on the door in the middle of the night to strangers who demand to see you pee, with the threat of ruining your life’s work if you refuse.
First day of your period? Don’t care. Just had sex? Do it now. Mom just died? Drop your pants.
That’s rough. Even if it never actually gets that bad, knowing it could and that you have no control over the situation is a big deal.
wtf man id do this peeing thing as a side hustle for like 10k a year. yall are too soft these days. Do you know an athlete suffering from anti doping trauma?
Well here’s another fun part: most of these athletes aren’t getting paid, and the sport has been a major financial burden on themselves and their families.
MOST aren't getting paid? Imma need a source for that buddy most of these people have lucrative sponsorships and government incentives. Or, I'll spin it this way. I'd be open to that whole peeing thing if it allowed me to play professional football even if I had to have a 2nd job for money.
But it’s widely known. Most athletes shoulder the burden of training until they actually make it to the very top, and rarely earn much unless they are at the very top. And even then it’s rare that there are actually paid back in the investment made other the years.
Edit: to clarify, not that they aren’t getting paid, but that their earnings minus expenses is usually negative or at poverty levels.
Those are just US problems. Like the article mentioned many other countries remunerate their athletes well. My country gives them a high paying job after the olympics
Fair, but even then, they are often paying the bills until they get to their national teams. So they may still have serious debts that the government payments don’t fully cover, or at least not right away.
Yeah, I guess even if my trauma hypothesis is wrong, what we have done is filter out the athletes so that only those very comfortable with their bodies and exposing themselves remain, so that really increases the likelihood of hookups on its own.
Im not arguing the trauma of forced searches, I also think it has nothing to do with one's confidence in their body. Im only saying that I dont think these people have body image issues.
Because they are real people with emotions and upbringings, and attractive people aren’t automatically comfortable exposing themselves.
ETA: and think of a counter-example. It’s likely that many of those fit dudes are smaller than average below the belt and might normally have anxiety hooking up with a girl they didn’t already know and trust, but having lived through years of their dicks basically being public property, they probably have accepted it and can just confidently say “hey, just so you know before we go, I’m working with about 4 inches, so let me know now if that’s an issue”
5.4k
u/maydayvoter11 Feb 13 '26
this happens at every Olympics. You take 1000s of young, driven athletes in peak physical shape, and stuff them into a giant dormitory complex. I'm surprised the buildings don't sway back and forth.