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By Erin Keller
Reporter (Live News)
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Olympians – or at least people looking to connect with Olympians — are flocking to Tinder in hopes of linking up with athletes competing in the City of Love.
A spokesperson for Tinder tells Newsweek that since the beginning of July, there has been almost a 25% increase in Swipe activity in France. The 2024 Paris Olympic Games kicked off on July 24.
Tinder has seen a 105% increase in Tinder Passport Mode activity to key tourist sites in Paris. Passport mode allows users to search by city or drop a pin on the map to begin "Liking," "Matching," and chatting with others in any destination.
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According to the dating app's spokesperson, the top three origin countries of those using Tinder Passport Mode in July to change their location to France are the US, Brazil, and Turkey.
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The top sports selected as interests in Tinder users' bios right now are football, basketball, and swimming. The fastest-growing sports interests are gymnastics (+31%) and basketball (+14%).
There has been an increase in the number of users with the job descriptions "Olympian" (+52%) and "athlete" (+43%) on Tinder in Paris.
"Because privacy matters, for athletes who would prefer to keep a low profile in Paris this Summer, Tinder's Incognito Mode is a step up from fully hiding your profile," a Tinder spokesperson told Newsweek in an email. "Users can still 'Like' and 'Nope' in the app, but only those whom you've 'Liked' will see you in their recommendations."
Meanwhile, Grindr, a popular LGBTQ+ dating app, has disabled its location services in the Olympic Village, including its "explore" function, which usually allows users to search for and view profiles in a specific location, for safety reasons.
"If an athlete is not out or comes from a country where being LGBTQ+ is dangerous or illegal, using Grindr can put them at risk of being outed by curious individuals who may try to identify and expose them on the app," a blog post from the app reads.
Grindr's precautions have been in effect since the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing so that "LGBTQ+ athletes could connect with each other authentically without worrying about prying eyes or unwanted attention," Grindr said.
During the 2016 Rio Olympics, The Daily Beast came under fire for an article in which a reporter, who identified as straight, used Grindr at the games. Although the first version of the story did not include the names of athletes the reporter "Matched" with, it did include potentially identifying information.
The outlet then updated the article by removing that information, before finally taking it down completely and replacing it with an editor's note and apology.
Meanwhile, Dating.com is offering all participating Olympic athletes a free one-month subscription to the dating website to ensure their time in Paris is memorable on and off the competition site.
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