Olympic athletes let loose in London
(CBS News) The London Olympic Games will soon be history. And as the games start to wind down, the athletes, many of whom have lived disciplined lives of denial for four years, are intensifying their efforts - to party. Now, it would seem, the Olympic motto "faster, higher, stronger" could be applied to some bar tabs.
Gold medalist Ryan Lochte told CBS News, "Every athlete, they train so hard, and then they just want to let loose because it's over."
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Lochte has been seen all over town, celebrating his 28th birthday, and getting along swimmingly with a variety of female companions. Alyssa Anderson won gold in the pool, and was still smiling about it as she hit the London club scene.
Rachel Teitelbaum, of US Weekly, said, "They're aware that they're in the public eye, but they're also celebrating a huge feat."
Michael Phelps, who's leaving London as the winner of the most gold medals ever, said, "When we're away from the pool, we're away from the pool. That's our time to sort of get away from everything and relax."
Some of the Olympic stars seen out and about in London: Phelps and his fellow swimmer Matt Grevers, track cyclist Dani King, and judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison.
The Olympics and partying do have a bit in common. They both include large gatherings of young beautiful people, camaraderie across nations, and for those out all night - endurance.
Some don't have what it takes to make it in the world of competitive drinking. Belgian cyclist Gijs Van Hoecke was kicked off the team by his own country's Olympic committee after photos surfaced of the athlete clearly in need of a designated driver. For many of these athletes, it's an international smorgasbord.
"Hope Solo, the Olympic soccer player, even said herself, there's a lot of sex going on in the Olympic village," Teitelbaum said. "If you think about it, these people have the most pristine physiques, so there has to be some sort of attraction there."
"Four years of training, every day, is pretty intense," Lochte said. "And when you're done, you know what, you can just relax. And that's what I'm doing right now."
There's no official word of how much alcohol was consumed in London over the past week and a half. But Durex, the official condom supplier to the Olympic games, says it has distributed 150,000 condoms in and around the Olympic village.