PARIS — U.S. gymnast Frederic Richard says he's fully committed to competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
This included shipping his own mattress to the Olympic Village.
“Everyone's complaining about the beds and stuff,” Richard said Wednesday. “I've already ordered my bed and had it shipped over. It's been a comfortable bed since the beginning.”
Olympic Village beds, and in particular their cardboard frames, are back in the spotlight ahead of Friday's Opening Ceremony. Since athletes began arriving at the village, many have taken to social media to show off their cardboard beds to fans, deny the notion that the beds are “anti-sex,” and, more recently, complain about the comfort of the mattresses themselves.
“I've already had a massage to help repair the damage,” Australian water polo player Matilda Kearns wrote in a social media post.
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While some players said they had no problems with the beds, several, like Kearns, complained about how hard they were. The beds can be adjusted for firmness, but Kearns wrote in his initial post that even the softest setting was “hard as a rock.” After 48 hours, Kearns said Australian officials had purchased mattress toppers and extra pillows for the players.
“I'm so grateful because I was waking up every two hours. I actually wanted to just go to bed,” Karns said in a follow-up video.
That wasn't a problem for Richard, a U.S. Olympic Trials gold medalist and current world all-around bronze medalist, who, 20, said he arranged to have his mattress delivered before arriving in his village.
Richard didn't say how the mattresses were different from those in the village, but said it was a bit of a challenge to find the mattresses that arrived, but he was relieved to have a comfortable sleep amid a flurry of complaints from other players.
“I want to sleep in a comfortable place, like I would in my own room,” Richard says. “It's the Olympic venue. It's the biggest event. I want to live like a king here. That's my basic philosophy, so I got a nice, comfortable bed.”
A USA Gymnastics spokesman said Richards was the only gymnast who brought her own mattress to the Olympic Village, but the organization announced last week that mattress toppers and bed-cooling systems will be available to the entire U.S. Olympic gymnastics team through a partnership with BedJet.
Nighttime temperatures in the athletes' village ahead of the Olympics have also become a source of concern for athletes after Paris 2024 organizers announced they would not install traditional air conditioning there. The move was meant to be a step towards a more sustainable Games, but some national Olympic committees, including the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, have responded by installing their own air conditioning, for a fee.
“It's really nice to have air conditioning,” fellow U.S. gymnast Asher Hong said when asked about the four-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment he shares with teammates in the village. “There's no air movement and it's very hot. There's no air circulation.”
These may all seem like small things, but for an athlete about to compete in the most important international competition of their life, getting quality sleep can make a big difference.
“Because I'm a coach, it's OK if I wake up a few times in the middle of the night,” said Jess Graba, Lee's coach and one of the coaches and team staff staying in the Olympic Village.
Graba said she didn't find the bed uncomfortable, but she wished it had a bit more cushioning.
“(Richard) ordered the mattresses and had them delivered to the village and now we're all reevaluating our decision-making around that,” he said.
“Maybe we should have done more like Fred.”
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.
