Condoms are commonly dished out free of charge at sporting events like the Olympics, but the world championship athletes in Beijing this week have an even wider choice of contraception. The rest rooms in the foyer of the hotel housing the South African and other teams, including Australia, Botswana, Ethiopia and Poland, don't just offer your run-of-the-mill prophylactics.There are also spermicide capsules and pellicles - contraceptive gel used by women to inactivate sperm.More than 75% of the products were snapped up in just one day - and the event hasn't even begun yet.By contrast, the only unusual thing in the bathrooms at the nearby media hotel is a sign that reads: "Carefully slippery note to fall".Such instances of Chinglish are a sideshow to the activities at the Bird's Nest Stadium that will run from tomorrow until next Sunday.The athletics itself is an easy sell.Unlike the last championships in Moscow in 2013, during which the Luzhniki Stadium was largely empty most of the time, the Beijing event is sold out.There are, however, rooms available at the luxury five-star hotel where Usain Bolt held a press conference yesterday, with the cheapest going for the equivalent of R4155 a night.Only problem is it's too far to walk to the stadium, which means relying on taxi drivers, many of whom are reluctant to ferry passengers for the 10-minute ride.The SA team's four-star hotel is closer and cheaper, but not cheap.An orange juice will set you back more than R60, while a coffee goes for only a few rands less.The breakfast at the media hotel features interesting options like seaweed egg flower soup, smashed bean bun and pickled French fries.The IAAF, the world governing body for athletics, pays for the accommodation and travel for many athletes here, as well as for officials.Athletes sharing rooms are not charged, but those wanting their own rooms pay $80 (about R1000) a night, a discounted rate on the hotel's regular price of $300.But that's chump change compared to what the leading competitors can earn here, with prize money allotted to the top eight finishers.Winners will each pocket $60000, with $30000 going to the runner-up, $20000 for third place right down to $4000 for eighth position.Victorious relay teams will earn $80000.A bonus of $100000 will be paid for each world record, but there are two catches here.An athlete breaking the mark twice - or more - in one event will be paid only once, and if two or more athletes break the record in the same event, only the best one gets the dough.- David Isaacson checked up on the contraceptives only for the purposes of this report...