- Athletes given ‘anti-sex beds’
- Australians in Paris put the beds to the test
- Two stars have remained very unaffected
Forget sex – Australian athletes will be left with nothing but sleep if one star’s reaction video is anything to go by after trying out the cardboard beds provided to competitors at the Paris Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee has taken strict measures against intimacy in the athletes’ village for the first time at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Although the ban has apparently been lifted, in Paris they did provide athletes with single beds made of thin materials, in an attempt to prevent extracurricular activities of a sexual nature.
Organisers in Paris will provide the athletes with 300,000 condoms, but Laurent Michaud, director of the Olympic and Paralympic village, previously confirmed that they will have to sleep in the same small beds that were used in Tokyo.
The single beds, produced by Airwave, feature cardboard frames as part of the organisers’ sustainability efforts.
Nevertheless, Michaud expressed the hope that the athletes will feel “very enthusiastic and at ease” in the village.
Australian water polo player Tilly Kearns is in Paris and, together with her teammate Gabi Palm, gave her verdict on the small beds.
“I’ve already had a massage to undo the damage,” Kearns posted.
In the video she starts with the words: ‘Night one on the cardboard beds’.
“My back is going to come off,” Palm can be heard saying in the background.
“It’s actually rock solid. You can move it around a little bit, apparently there’s a softer side,” Kearns says as she tries to adjust the bed, revealing that the mattresses can be flipped to change the feel of the bed.
“That was the soft side,” she said next, sounding disappointed.
Australian water polo player Tilly Kearns was not impressed with the quality of the beds in the village during the Paris Olympics
Kearns said the beds were rock solid, even with the mattresses turned to the softer side (pictured)
Many Australian fans agreed with the athletes and felt the beds were of poor quality.
“Is this the Olympics or the Hunger Games… seriously, how do they expect top athletes to perform at their best while sleeping on beds worse than backpackers’,” someone asked.
“How can they let athletes sleep on something that looks like cheap garden furniture from Bunnings, but is actually made of cardboard and polystyrene?” asked another.
The water polo stars weren’t the only athletes to try out the beds upon arrival in Paris.
Tennis players Daria Saville and Ellen Perez also gave them a good workout in a hilarious Instagram post.
“Testing cardboard beds in the Olympic Village,” Saville posted.
Tennis star Daria Saville gave her Olympic bed a full workout alongside teammate Ellen Perez
They even tested how the beds would hold up to a full-on racket-smashing tantrum
Their video opened with Saville committing a bomb attack, after which the Aussies went wild on the bed.
They alternated between different activities including running on the floor, using resistance bands, doing the 80s dance move “The Worm,” squat jumps, step ups, volley exercises and even smashing rackets, all while laughing their heads off.
Their antics also caused the Australian supporters to burst out laughing.
“Stop the Olympics now, the peak has been reached,” someone wrote.
Another follower added: ‘You are so funny. I wish you all the best for the Olympics.’
“Well it was meant to be an anti-sex bed so…” a third posted with a laughing emoji.
The men’s and women’s tennis tournaments begin on July 27 in Paris.
The women’s water polo team will play its first match on July 28 against China.