With less than a week to go until the 2024 Olympics kicks off, the fully recyclable cardboard beds that athletes will sleep on have been unveiled.
The video shows that the mattress has three different modules that allow athletes to choose their preferred firmness and stretch to suit their height.
These are the same type of beds that will be used at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The beds have come under criticism from some athletes, with US track and field star Paul Chelimo claiming they were “aimed at preventing intimacy between athletes” during the Olympics.
Chelimo's theory was proven wrong when Ireland's Reece McClenaghan filmed himself jumping on a bed.
While this theory doesn't seem convincing, other athletes have expressed concern about how their bodies would cope after two weeks on the bed, with American skateboarder Nyjah Huston saying in an Instagram video that the bed was uncomfortable to sleep on.
US fencer Katherine Holmes told Business Insider's Barnaby Lane that it's not uncommon for sleeping conditions to be less than ideal at the Olympics and other global events.
“I've competed in a few gaming events. I've been to Rio, I've been to the Pan American Games twice, I've been to the World University Games twice. The beds are not super comfortable by any means. But they're fine. I don't wake up screaming in the middle of the night in agony. It's not the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in, but it's fine. It's kind of crazy that it's made out of cardboard. It's actually pretty strong. You can bounce on it, which is kind of silly because if it had broken it would have been awful, but it didn't break when I bounced on it. It was fine.”
A spokesman for the Paris Games said in May that the beds had been “rigorously tested” to ensure they fit athletes of all sizes and body types.
After the Olympics, the bed frames will be recycled and the mattresses and pillows will be donated to various schools and organizations.
Athletes will stay in Olympic villages across three cities. The Paris 2024 Games will begin with an opening ceremony on July 26 and finish on August 11.
