Olympic gold medalist Hope Solo has seen it all — and she's not the only one.
In an interview with ESPN, the 30-year-old goalkeeper opens up about what really happens during athletes' two-week stay in Olympic Village. "There's a lot of sex going on," says Solo, who competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. "With a once-in-a-lifetime experience, you want to build memories, whether it's sexual, partying or on the field. I've seen people having sex right out in the open. On the grass, between buildings, people are getting down and dirty."
Swimmer Ryan Lochte, 27, backs Solo up, as he believes "70 percent to 75 percent of Olympians" hook up behind the scenes. "Hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do."
According to Solo, it's almost too easy to meet people. "Unlike at a bar, it's not awkward to strike up a conversation because you have something in common," Solo explains. "It starts with, 'What sport do you play?' All of a sudden, you're fist-bumping."
But it's not just sex that keeps the athletes up at night: they party hard, too. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but we met a bunch of celebrities. Vince Vaughn partied with us. Steve Byrne, the comedian. And at some point we decided to take the party back to the village," Solo recalls. "We started talking to the security guards, showed off our gold medals, got their attention and snuck our group through without credentials — which is absolutely unheard of."
"I may have snuck a celebrity back to my room without anybody knowing, and snuck him back out," Solo adds. "But that's my Olympic secret."
"When we were done partying, we got out of our nice dresses, got back into our stadium coats and, at 7 a.m. with no sleep, went on the TODAY show drunk," Solo tells ESPN. "Needless to say, we looked like hell."
