Olympians Are Going Viral For Sharing Their “Cardboard Beds” On TikTok

As soon as the Olympic and Paralympic athletes touched down in Paris, many started sharing TikToks from the Olympic Village, where they’ll be staying this summer. The teams have been serving up ‘fit checks, friendships, and plenty of room tours, including close-ups of their cardboard beds.

While you might think “cardboard” is a funny way to describe a mattress that’s a little too thin or hard, the athletes have been pulling their sheets back to reveal the beds are, in fact, made out of boxes. Their videos are going viral on TikTok, but instead of complaining about the sleeping arrangements, some of them are having fun with it.

Rugby player Ilona Maher shared a video of her cardboard bed that included gymnast Amy Doyle jokingly attempting her balance beam routine on the mattress, while other friends break-danced and pretended to wrestle. In Maher’s comments, someone said, “I just realized the Olympic Village is like a giant summer camp,” while another wrote, “The girlhood that exists in the Olympic Village is *chef’s kiss.*”

That said, the cardboard beds are a quirky detail leaving many people with questions.

Are The Cardboard Beds Really That Bad?

One comment that keeps coming up on TikTok is how these elite athletes will fair in the Games after sleeping on such a hard surface. Will they be stiff? Sore? Too exhausted to grab gold? One person even joked the flimsy beds seemed like “pre-game sabotage.”

English Olympic diver Tom Daley also gave a tour of his cardboard bed, noting that the headboard and legs were, in fact, made of cardboard, while French water polo player Mia Rycraw revealed how thin her mattress was. (In her comments, one person said it looked like a “Scrub Daddy sponge.”)

In another viral TikTok, posted by English gymnast Joe Fraser, the comments section blew up with concerns. One person asked, “So are world-famous athletes like Simone Biles sleeping on that?” Another said, “My back would never work again.” To find out more, I reached out to sleep experts to get their take on the whole cardboard bed debacle.

According to Dr. Shelby Harris, a licensed clinical psychologist and director of sleep health at Sleepopolis, hard beds really can take a toll. As anyone who’s ever slept on a stiff mattress will know, it can cause soreness in your hips, shoulders, and lower back, as well as in your neck and shoulders.

“These aches and pains can disrupt your sleep, making it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep throughout the night,” she tells Bustle. “Poor sleep or stiff muscles from a hard bed can also make you feel tired and less focused the next day.” The resulting soreness could also restrict your movement, even increasing your risk of injury.

According to Julia Forbes, a certified sleep science coach at Sleep Advisor, athletes and active people rely on restful night’s sleep to fully recover from strenuous activity, which is another cause for concern. Imagine competing all day and then going home to snooze on a box. With your much-needed REM cycle, she says you might wake up groggy and uncoordinated.

Making The Most Of The Box Bed

That said, there are quite a few ways the Olympians are making do, according to Forbes. Many are ordering softer mattress toppers and more supportive pillows. And since these are Olympians we’re talking about, they can always work with their team’s physical therapists to sort out stiffness ahead of their competitions.

Stretching, using foam rollers, heat therapy, and other strategies can help relax tight muscles and improve circulation, Harris says. The biggest takeaway, though, is that these athletes are likely laughing at the whole ordeal because it isn’t actually that big of a deal.

“Physical fitness can play a role in how well someone can handle a tough mattress, as strong and well-conditioned muscles are better equipped to support the body and distribute pressure more evenly,” says Harris. “Olympians might find it easier to adapt to a hard bed than the average person. Their muscle strength and flexibility can help alleviate some of the negative effects, helping them have better sleep quality and perform physically — despite the more challenging sleeping conditions."

Why Are The Beds Cardboard, Anyway?

According to CBS Sports, these are the same types of beds used in the 2020 Tokyo Games, and they’re made of cardboard as part of a sustainability effort. In other words, they’re made of cardboard so they can be fully recycled after the Games.

Some have also speculated that the beds are flimsy to discourage Olympians from, um, having a good time together at night. British Paralympic wheelchair fencer Oliver Lam-Watson shared a tour of his “anti-sex” bed. He also said they’re “not as uncomfortable as you’d imagine.”

The beds, which organizers say are 100% made in France, can withstand up to 550 pounds of weight, according to CBS Sports, and they’re also customizable so athletes can choose the firmness of their mattress or extend the frame to be longer or shorter.

While not everyone’s a fan — and there are sure to be more bed complaints in the coming days, especially after the Olympic Games begin on July 26 — here’s hoping Team USA can get some restful sleep.

Sources:

Dr. Shelby Harris, licensed clinical psychologist, director of sleep health at Sleepopolis

Julia Forbes, certified sleep science coach at Sleep Advisor