Tokyo: The cardboard beds at the Tokyo Olympic Village are ‘sturdy’”, organisers reassured Monday. It came after a report warned that the cardboard beds weren’t strong enough for sex. Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan filmed himself jumping repeatedly on a bed to prove the point.
Earlier, a report in the ‘New York Post’ claimed the beds were deliberately made flimsy to promote social distancing. “The beds are meant to be anti-sex. They’re made out of cardboard, yes, but apparently they’re meant to break with sudden movements. It’s fake – fake news!” McClenaghan said in the video posted on Twitter.
The official Olympics Twitter account thanked McLenaghan for ‘debunking the myth’, adding ‘the sustainable beds are sturdy!’
See McClenaghan video: https://twitter.com/i/status/1416567768938291203
The report in the ‘New York Post’ was based on a tweet, apparently tongue-in-cheek, by US distance runner Paul Chelimo. He said the cardboard beds were ‘aimed at avoiding intimacy among athletes’. “Beds will (only) be able to withstand the weight of a single person to avoid situations beyond sports,” he had tweeted.
It’s not the first time the beds, which signal a commitment to sustainability, have come into question.
Also read: Covid-19 continues its relentless march in Tokyo Olympic Village
In January, manufacturer ‘Airweave’ said the cardboard beds can withstand a weight of 200 kilos (440 pounds). It said the beds have been through rigorous stress tests, after Australian basketball player Andrew Bogut queried their durability.
“We’e conducted experiments, like dropping weights on top of the beds,” a spokesperson of the company said Monday. “As long as they stick to just two people in the bed, they should be strong enough to support the load,” the spokesperson added.
Thousands of athletes will stay at the Olympic Village during the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games, which start Friday. Despite warnings to ‘avoid unnecessary forms of physical contact’, organisers are expected to hand out 160,000 condoms. However, a member of the organising committee said, “The distributed condoms are not meant to be used at the Olympic Village. Instead they are supposed to be ‘brought back by athletes to their respective home countries and to help them support the campaign to raise awareness (about HIV/AIDS).”