City of no love? What are the ‘anti-sex’ beds at the 2024 Paris Olympics?

In the City of Love, this might be the least loving room.

‘Anti-sex’ beds have arrived in France’s Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games.

It is said that the purpose of these cardboard mattresses is to deter athletes from making love in bedrooms.

The 2024 Olympic Games will take place in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024.

More than 10,000 athletes will be staying in the French capital throughout those days.

Here’s all we know about the so-called anti-sex beds.

The ‘anti-sex’ beds at Paris Olympics

According to the New York Post, the anti-sex mattresses are twin-sized, so there isn’t enough space for the competitors to cuddle up together.

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These are produced by the Japanese company Airweave, which introduced them at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Even the largest Olympians can rest comfortably on the adjustable modular mattresses, which support up to 440 pounds and can be customised to fit athletes of different body shapes, as per The New York Times.

The unconventional bed frames during the Tokyo Olympics 2020 gave rise to several speculations in 2021.

Paul Chelimo, an American distance runner, had at the time speculated on Twitter (now X) that these mattresses were put in place to prevent athletes from having sex while competing in the Tokyo Olympics.

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The beds were soon being called “anti-sex” on social media.

The truth

An Inside the Games report claims that the main reason given by Olympic authorities for choosing the mattresses this year was sustainability.

There was little environmental waste produced by the mattresses and cardboard frames, which are completely recyclable.

“(The beds) will be recycled into paper products after the Games, with the mattress components recycled into new plastic products. This will be the first time in Olympic and Paralympic history that all beds and bedding are made almost entirely from renewable materials,” the publication said.
“I hope that Paris 2024’s efforts to reduce its impact will show that it is possible to do things differently,” Georgina Grenon, director of environmental excellence for the organising committee, told AFP.

Moreover, Airweave, when it introduced the beds in 2021, had said in a statement, “Cardboard beds are actually stronger than those made of wood or steel."

Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan had also referred to the ‘anti-sex’ claims as “fake news.”

He demonstrated the durability of his bed by jumping on it in a video that he shared on Twitter.

“The beds are meant to be ‘anti-sex’… They’re made out of cardboard, yes, and apparently they’re meant to break at any sudden movement… It’s fake! Fake news,” McClenaghan said.

The official Olympics Twitter account reposted McClenaghan’s video, adding: “Thanks for debunking the myth.”

Olympic Village’s raunchy reputation

A nasty reputation for affairs and sensual instances behind closed room doors has emerged over time in the Olympic Village.

Table tennis player Matthew Syed once admitted to having a wild time during the 1992 games in Barcelona, Spain, to The Times of London.

“I got laid more often in those two and a half weeks than in the rest of my life,” he’d said.

An unidentified athlete acknowledged having a foursome with two women and a male teammate in their apartment’s communal dorm at the London Olympics in 2012., The Mirror reported.

According to the New York Post, a competitor once said that there was an orgy in a hot tub one year.

The Mirror also cited US football star Hope Solo once telling ESPN, “I’ve seen people having sex right out in the open."

“Athletes are extremists. When they’re training, it’s laser focus. When they go out for a drink, it’s 20 drinks. With a once-in-a-lifetime experience, you want to build memories, whether it’s sexual, partying or on the field. I’ve seen people having sex right out in the open. On the grass, between buildings, people are getting down and dirty,” she said.

According to the NYT, athletes were advised not to intimidate one another in 2021 following the COVID-19 outbreak to prevent the infection from spreading.

At the time, alcohol sales were banned and condoms were distributed to athletes, who were advised to use them only once they were back in their home countries.

As per The Mirror, before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, former long jump athlete Susen Tiedtke told the German tabloid Bild, “(The ban) is a big laughing stock for me, it doesn’t work at all. Sex is always an issue in the village. The athletes are at their physical peak at the Olympics. When the competition is over, they want to release their energy.”

With inputs from agencies