The Truth About 'Anti-Sex' Beds At The Olympics

"Beds to be installed in Tokyo Olympic Village will be made of cardboard, this is aimed at avoiding intimacy among athletes," US distance runner Paul Chelimo tweeted

Over the weekend, social media was abuzz with various reports claiming that the beds given to athletes competing in this year's Olympics would be made of cardboard to discourage sex. "Beds to be installed in Tokyo Olympic Village will be made of cardboard, this is aimed at avoiding intimacy among athletes," US distance runner Paul Chelimo tweeted Saturday, sharing a picture of the beds in question. Several news outlets then picked up his tweet, reporting that the beds were deliberately flimsy to discourage intimacy amid the pandemic and would collapse under the weight of more than one person. The New York Post, one of the first to run the story, said that the beds were "allegedly designed to collapse under the weight of fornicators to discourage sex amid COVID-19."These reports that were debunked by organisers on Monday. Beds to be installed in Tokyo Olympic Village will be made of cardboard, this is aimed at avoiding intimacy among athletesBeds will be able to withstand the weight of a single person to avoid situations beyond sports.I see no problem for distance runners,even 4 of us can do???? pic.twitter.com/J45wlxgtSo Thanks for debunking the myth.????You heard it first from @TeamIreland gymnast @McClenaghanRhys - the sustainable cardboard beds are sturdy! #Tokyo2020https://t.co/lsXbQokGVE This is the craziest story. In order to prevent Olympians from having sex, and thus risk spreading the Covid virus, beds at the Tokyo Olympic Village are made from cardboard so they collapse if more than one person gets on them! pic.twitter.com/RZKEPbcr4x Imagine trying to get some solid rest the night before the biggest race of your life and you have to sleep on a cardboard mattress. All b/c the Olympic committee is trying to prevent you from having sex. *looks up ‘sex during the games' in #Tokyo2020 health and safety handbook https://t.co/m4UaAYMhNz It appears as if Mr Chelimo's tweet, meant to be tongue-in-cheek, was taken at face value by media outlets reporting on it.  The cardboard beds at the Tokyo Olympic Village are "sturdy", organisers reassured this morning after Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan put them to test.