Since many decades, this controversy involves coaches, sport physicians, physical trainers, and players. But is this a myth or a reality? As healthcare providers, how can we advise athletes concerning sex before the big game? As we are not actually ready to answer this question on evidence-based medicine, we must ask at this point: IS IT GOOD, OR IS IT BAD? Let us take a look at some testimonies.

NO TO SEX – According to Plato, “Olympians should avoid sex before competition.” This is the oldest written testimony. Antonio Miguel, former football player and Head of Medical Services of Club Universidad Nacional Plumas (Mexican football first division), says “In the ‘60s coaches gave us potassium nitrate because (according to them), this would inhibit the sexual desire, which made it widely used in prisons, convents, barracks and similar. However, there is no scientific evidence for such properties.” Also, the all-powerful boxer Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) claimed that “Sex before competition zaps energy. I would not make love for six weeks before a fight.”

IS IT??

YES TO SEX – According to Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pelé), considered by many as the best football player ever lived, the testimony could not be so opposite: “I never suspended sexual encounters with my wife before a game. That thing about sex helping to relax is a verified truth.” Juan Carlos Medina, general coordinator of the sports department (Tecnológico de Monterrey University), says that “Sex helps you feel relaxed. This reduces the anxiety levels before the big match.” The Netherlands National Football Team (1978 World Cup in Argentina) is an example of this. “Some of those players were accompanied by their wifes, and they won the second place… I am not saying this is a determinant factor, but it brings support.” George Best – the “greatest player to ever pull on the green shirt of Northern Ireland” – used to say, “Sex is good? If the scientists say so, then it must be right. Sex the night before a match is a routine for me. It certainly didn’t do me any harm.”

After all, WHO IS RIGHT?

Well, if it was so bad, why did the INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE distribut 150,000 condoms to athletes competing in London 2012??? AT LEAST THEY BELIEVE IN SAFE SEX – a wonderful healthcare move!!!

Anyway, the fact is that some athletes admitted that the Olympics are not only a stage for world records and medals. In the Olympic Village, sexual relationships ARE COMMON among competitors (quite a different story compared to previous decades). BUT, one-night stands could alter a player’s performance because these emotional situations wear you out more than physical ones.