Advertisement

Australian kayaker has condom to thank for Olympic bronze medal

Jessica Fox of Team Australia reacts after winning her bronze medal. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Jessica Fox of Team Australia reacts after winning her bronze medal. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Tokyo 2020 organizers planned to hand out over 150,000 condoms during the duration of the Games — a far cry from the 450,000 supplied at the Rio Olympics, but still a substantial number.

What no one could have planned for, however, was a video surfacing of one of those condoms being used during an Olympic event. Yes, you read that right.

Cue Australian Jess Fox, who used one of the Olympic-issued condoms to repair her boat before proceeding to win a bronze medal in kayak slalom.

The seven-time world champ posted a video of the process to her Instagram page with the words “bet you didn’t know condoms could be used for kayak repairs.”

No, Jess, we really didn’t.

The video shows Fox patching up a hole before sliding the condom over the repair because, in her words, a condom is “Very stretchy. Much strong.” She also added that it gives the patch a “smooth finish.”

And while it might not be how the professionals do it, the makeshift repair job clearly did the job. The 27-year-old not only stayed afloat during the event, but found herself standing on the podium with a bronze medal around her neck.

Fox clearly didn’t want her condom ingenuity to be the only headline she made in Tokyo, so on Thursday she went out and won gold in the canoe slalom, bringing her medal count up to two.

The Aussie has now also medaled at three straight Olympics, winning a silver medal in kayak slalom at the London Games, while taking home bronze in the same event in Rio.

More from Yahoo Sports