JO-2020: These beds are succeeding on social networks

Published: 19/07/2021 – 07:58Modified: 19/07/2021 – 07:56

Tokyo Airport (AFP)

This is one of the highlights of the Tokyo Olympics (July 23-August 8): In the Olympic Village, athletes sleep in eco-card beds, while some have fun expressing their strength on social networks.

His video of him jumping while standing on his bed … a hit: Irish gymnast Rice McLennan wanted to show that the information about the weakness of the beds spread by the American tabloid New York Post was false.

“The beds + have to be anti-sexual, yes they are made of cardboard, they have to break a little bit of sudden movement, they say. This is wrong, this is + fake news +,” he tweeted.

Before him, American Paul Selimo had jokingly said in his bedside “to prevent any intimacy between athletes”: “These beds can only support a person’s weight to avoid any situation other than sport”. , Writes the medium distance expert on his social networks.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) press service Twitter account also retweeted Rice McLennan’s video, explaining that “these are the ecological beds of the Olympic Village.”

This is not the first time these beds have caused a stir: their manufacturer, Airwave, had to explain in January 2020 that the beds were designed to support up to 200kg.

“We carried out tests such as throwing weights on the beds. (…) As long as people are sticking to two people in bed, they should be strong enough to support the load,” AFP’s spokesman said.

The Olympic Village has traditionally been an important meeting place. Last winter games, in 2018 in Pyongyang (South Korea), dating application Tinder increased its use by 350%. In Rio, during the 2016 Olympics, organizers distributed 450,000 condoms or 42 per athlete.

© 2021 AFP