No drinking, no beards and no more intimacy bans: All the rules Olympic athletes must follow.

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Australian athletes have touched down in the Olympic Village ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. 

However, it hasn't all been smooth sailing. From a lack of air conditioning, to "rock hard" cardboard beds, the Village has not gone without its complaints as athletes from around the world check in. But with an incredible fitness centre, hair salon and food hall, there are still plenty of positives to outweigh the negatives in their new digs.

While living conditions are front of mind, there are also some important rules athletes must follow while staying in the Olympic Village. Not only that, but there are a whole host of surprising rules and official guidelines from the IOC that athletes must follow during the games. Let's get into it.

All the rules athletes have to follow in the Paris Olympic Village. Perhaps starting with the most popular question fans have... 

Is there an intimacy ban for athletes in the Olympic Village? 

The intimacy ban has been lifted! At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, athletes were reportedly asked to limit physical contact with each other in order to promote social distancing in line with COVID-19 safety measures. Now, the ban has been lifted and athletes are allowed to fraternise to their hearts' content.

Laurent Michaud, director of the Olympic Village, told press that 300,000 condoms will be available to people staying there. That's roughly 21 condoms per person.

And if you're thinking, 'Wow, 300,000 condoms is a lot of condoms', it's actually quite standard for these athletes. At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, it was reported that athletes used some 450,000 condoms over the course of two weeks.

It had been reported there was an Olympic condom quota, but no. Turns out that's just a rumour.

"Everyone talks about how there are so many condoms for each athlete, but they don’t just give them to you," Swiss swimmer Alexandre Haldemann told USA Today at the time. "You have to go and get them yourself, and you can take as many as you want." 

There are no intimacy bans, but the cardboard bedframes have been referred to as "anti-sex beds" on social media. Image: Getty.

Who gets to stay in the Olympic Village?

While the Olympic Village is predominantly inhabited by athletes, there are also coaches and team officials in the space. According to the IOC, it will house 14,250 people for the Olympics and 8,000 people for the Paralympics. 

Friends, family and other guests (frenemies, perhaps?) are not allowed to stay in the Olympic Village. They need to stay elsewhere in Paris. 

There will be no champagne showers. 

It might be the preferred method of celebration for Formula 1 drivers and Rugby League players, but Olympic athletes will not be partying and spraying champagne in the Village.

In fact, no alcohol is provided in the Olympic Village. While the dining hall will offer a wide-ranging selection of food, and there will be plenty of "grab-and-go" food spots, they will not be serving alcoholic beverages.

However, there is a "club" for athletes to socialise in, called The Corona Cero Stress Terrace. There is a DJ booth, plenty of seating and non-alcoholic beer.

Michauld told Sky News, "It's going to be a great place so they can share their moment and the environment here. No champagne in the village, of course, but they can have all the champagne they want to in Paris."

Though the IOC won't be supplying alcohol, for obvious reasons, there isn't a strict ban on whether or not athletes can bring their own booze. It's up to the individual Olympic Committees for each territory to set guidelines for their team.

Paris 2024 Olympic Village has a strict set of rules for guests. Image: Instagram/@ausolympicteam.

Athletes must abide by Olympic Village quiet hours.

In order to be in tip-top shape for their events, athletes need to enjoy a good night's sleep on their weird cardboard bed. Some regions enforce "quiet hours" for their teams.

Team USA's Olympic Village Director Daniel Smith told People Magazine that quiet hours are enforced from 10pm to 7am local time.

"This is a distraction-free environment," he stressed. "We want to be very respectful — not only of our athletes, but of other athletes." 

All the most interesting rules athletes have to follow at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

While there are all the standard rules athletes must follow — you know, offside rules and all that jazz — there are some additional guidelines that always leave viewers intrigued. Here are the most unusual and surprising rules athletes must follow at the Olympics.

Track and field stars can go shoeless… if they want to.

According to World Athletics' rules, "Athletes may compete barefoot or with footwear on one or both feet." So if you want to drop your shoes off in the locker room before taking on the race, you're more than welcome to.

But they can't hold hands.

Olympic runners who choose to hold hands at the finish line will be disqualified, due to a rule that says you can't have a contrived tie. Keep your hands to yourselves, everyone!

No behind-the-scenes content. Kind of.

Athletes are not allowed to post photos or videos of the field or backstage areas, including medal ceremonies or competitions, on their social media channels.

With Paris shaping up to be the ultimate TikTok Olympics, it's important to have guidelines around what is and is not off-limits to these athlete influencers. 

The IOC guidelines state athletes can share audio and video recordings from the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Olympic Village, Champions Park, training venues and practice areas. The rules also note athletes can post recordings from competition venues up to an hour before their events begin and after they've left the "mixed zone/doping control station". 

However, the guidelines make it clear that these recordings cannot exceed two minutes per post and they can not be live.

@mackenziearnold94 🫠🫠 @Alanna Kennedy ♬ CODY USED MY AUDIO AHHHHHH - james

Gymnasts can't wear colourful nail polish.

Nail polishes that might distract the judges are not permitted at the Olympics, so it's either a neutral nail or no colour at all. Somebody get the OPI Put It In Neutral polish on a jet to Paris, stat! 

No beards for boxers.

With the exception of a pencil moustache, of all things, Boxers must be clean shaven or have limited facial hair when competing in the Olympics. This is to make cuts and injuries easy to spot, so that they can receive prompt medical attention. 

Karate referees can disqualify an athlete if their hair isn't clean enough. What?

Have you ever found yourself heading to work with greasy hair, held together by some dry shampoo and a prayer? Well, if you were a karate player it would be game over for you! Karate referees have the power to send someone packing if they believe their hair is insufficiently clean.

According to Metro UK, this is because clean hair reduces the risk of transmitting infections and diseases during close-contact combat. 

Water polo players must clip their toenails.

As anyone who ever played water polo in high school can attest: kicking is very much a part of the process, along with scratching. 

In order to prevent nail-related-injuries, water polo players are required to clip their toenails, along with their fingernails, ahead of Olympic appearances. 

Aussie Water Polo player Tilly Kearns previously went viral for showing off her scratches. Image: TikTok/TillyKearns.

Archers must sign their arrows.

Unless your name is Katniss Everdeen, you might not be that "in the know" about common archery rules and guidelines. 

In the Olympics, the archer has only 40 seconds to shoot each arrow and each arrow must be marked with the competitor's name or initials. In case they miss who got the bull's eye, judges need a way to distinguish the winning arrow.

Wrestlers must have a hanky handy!

When you think "wrestler" your mind probably doesn't think "quaint, delicate, grandmotherly". But wrestlers are required to carry a hanky during the Olympics. It's called a "bloodrag" and they have to carry it somewhere in their uniform, in order to clean up any bleeding.

You can't hoop-hang on the basketball court.

You've heard the old adage that there's no crying in baseball, but there’s a new one to add to the list: no showing off in basketball. Players can dunk to score points, but they absolutely can not hang onto the hoop afterwards.

Sorry TikTok, there are sock rules for the cyclists. 

Nothing gets Gen Z and Millennials going like a good sock debate. When it comes to Olympic cycling, there's also a specific uniform rule. Socks can't be higher than mid-calf and, yes, they are measured!

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