Tokyo 2020: ‘Anti-sex’ bed rumours fly at Olympic Games but organisers say it can withstand 200kg weight and is part of sustainability efforts
- Social media ablaze as photos of beds at Olympic Village make the rounds and bring forth accusations of deterring sex
- Olympic Village, which can house up to 18,000 athletes, has had a number of precautions installed with goal of helping battle any Covid-19 outbreak
The organisers have said the cardboard beds are in line with their sustainability efforts but that has not stopped speculation that they are “anti-sex” beds meant to prevent sleepovers, innocent or intimate, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Fears of the virus spreading at the Games, especially at the already heavily restricted athletes’ village, have mounted over the past few days with three athletes testing positive for the infection while six competitors and two staffers from Great Britain’s team were self-isolating after being identified as close contacts with a case.
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‘Anti-sex’ or sustainable: Tokyo Olympic Village cardboard beds spark speculation
Speculation of the bed’s “anti-sex” design first came from American athlete Paul Chelimo, a silver medallist in 5000 metres at the 2016 Rio Olympics, as athletes began pouring into Japan in recent weeks and found out how they would be spending their nights during the Games.
“This is aimed at avoiding intimacy among athletes. Beds will be able to withstand the weight of a single person to avoid situations beyond sports,” he tweeted. “I see no problem for distance runners, even 4 of us can do …”
The track and field athlete joked that he would be sleeping on the floor, and would sell his bed to NBA superstar Kevin Durant or one of the other basketball players if their beds collapsed.
“Just flip the wardrobe horizontally and put the mattress on top. The wardrobe looks like it’s made of wood,” a netizen replied to Chelimo on Twitter.