Tinder on fire at Paris Games: Olympic athlete profiles skyrocket by 52%

Olympians — or at least people looking to connect with Olympians — flock to Tinder in hopes of connecting with athletes competing in the City of Love.

A Tinder spokesperson says: Newsweek that Swipe activity in France has increased by almost 25% since the beginning of July. The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris opened on July 24.

Tinder saw a 105% increase in Tinder Passport Mode activity across key tourist hotspots in Paris. Passport Mode lets users search by city or drop a pin on a map to start “Liking,” “Matching,” and chatting with others anywhere.

According to a spokesperson for the dating app, the top three countries of origin for people who moved to France using Tinder Passport Mode in July were the US, Brazil and Turkey.

The most popular sports chosen as interests in Tinder user bios are currently football, basketball, and swimming. The fastest growing sports interests are gymnastics (+31%) and basketball (+14%).

In Paris, Tinder saw an increase in users who included “Olympian” (+52%) and “athlete” (+43%) in their job descriptions.

“Because privacy matters, for athletes who prefer to remain unnoticed in Paris this summer, Tinder’s incognito mode is a step up from hiding your profile completely,” a Tinder spokesperson said. Newsweek in an email. “Users can still ‘Like’ and ‘Dislike’ in the app, but only those you’ve ‘Liked’ will see you in their recommendations.”

Meanwhile, Grindr, a popular LGBTQ+ dating app, has disabled location services in the Olympic Village, including the “explore” feature that typically lets users search and browse profiles in a specific location, for safety reasons.

“If an athlete is not open about their orientation or is from a country where being LGBTQ+ is unsafe or illegal, using Grindr puts them at risk of being exposed by curious individuals who may try to identify them and out them on the app,” the app’s blog post reads.

Grindr’s precautions have been in place since the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing so that “LGBTQ+ athletes can engage in authentic connections without worrying about prying eyes or unwanted attention,” Grindr said.

During the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio Everyday Beast came under fire for a story in which a reporter who identified himself as heterosexual used Grindr at the games. Although the initial version of the story did not include the names of the athletes the reporter “matched” with, it did contain potentially identifying information.

The outlet then updated the article to remove this information, and finally removed it entirely and replaced it with an editor’s note and an apology.

Meanwhile, Dating.com is offering all Olympic athletes a free one-month dating subscription to ensure they have an unforgettable experience both on and off the competition floor.

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