Tinder Users Change Their Locations to Find an Olympic Athlete

Are you watching the Winter Olympics? Maybe you’ve fantasized about what it would be like to meet one of the athletes, especially because they are competing at peak physical fitness – what’s not to love?

Some Tinder users are taking it a step further and actually changing their locations to match with Olympic athletes.

Tinder users with a premium service such as Tinder Plus or Tinder Gold have the option to use the “Passport” feature, which allows them to change their location so they can swipe left and right on matches from any other city in the world. This feature was created for those who travel and want to connect with people in more than one place.

As if on cue, the Olympic Games started last week and Tinder activity – particularly those using the Passport feature to change their locations – skyrocketed. Tinder noted a 1,850 percent increase in users taking advantage of this feature since the games begun.

Tinder also offered free Tinder Gold upgrades for those staying in the Olympic Village in PyeongChang South Korea where the games are taking place, which has increased potential for hookups.

According to an article in Mashable, Tinder has seen a 348 percent increase in overall Tinder usage in the Olympic Villages, plus a 565 percent in right swipes and a 644 percent increase in matches.

American Tinder users appear to be the most active in switching their locations, followed by Sweden and the UK.

In previous Olympics, athletes have often used apps such as Tinder to hook up with other athletes, fans and coaches who are staying in the Olympic Villages. Tinder saw an increase in activity for both the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 as well as the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. This year however marks the first time that Tinder users have had the ability to use a location feature to their advantage, matching with athletes even when they aren’t in the same city.

You might be asking: what is the goal of using Tinder’s Passport if you match with an athlete but you’re not actually in PyeongChang to meet up? Tinder users don’t seem too concerned, as they are happy to keep swiping.

Health officials in South Korea prepared for the arrival of athletes by distributing a record number of condoms for this year’s Olympics. According to the Washington Post, about 110,000 condoms were handed out among 3,000 competitors, which averages out to about 37 condoms per competitor.

Sex and Tinder might be a distraction for athletes, but it seems like a welcome one. While some athletes are deleting their dating app accounts, others seem to be swiping right, even to matches who live in other cities.