Here’s What Two Olympic Athletes Had to Say About Sleeping On Their Cardboard Beds

The Olympics are officially underway, with the games having kicked off in Paris on July 26, 2024. That also means that Olympic athletes have been sleeping on the infamous cardboard beds for about a week, and we’re getting a closer look at them than ever before. 

As Olympians have been living in the Olympic Village, they are taking to social media to share their experience with their accommodations. This means that fans are getting an up-close and personal view of how Olympians will be eating, living, and sleeping while competing in the Olympic Games. 

More specifically, we’ve been getting some pretty honest and unfiltered takes on what sleeping on the famous cardboard beds are really like. 

If you’re not familiar, the cardboard beds gained notoriety back during the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo after athletes claimed that the construction of the beds were designed to prevent athletes from being intimate amidst the strict COVID regulations at the time. 

What Is It Like To Sleep On The Olympic Cardboard Beds? 

Recently, Australian water-polo player Tilly Kearns (@tillykearns) shared her first-hand experience of sleeping on the cardboard beds with fans on TikTok. Needless to say, Kearns was not thrilled with her experience. The caption of her video read “already had a massage to undo the damage.”

In the video which has amassed 1 million likes and 13.2 million views, Kearns called the bed “rock solid” and noted that she had the bed set up so she would be sleeping on the softer side. Kearns’s roommate even went so far as to say that “[her] back [was] about to fall off”.

The comments on the video echoed Kearns and her roommates’ complaints. One user called the cardboard beds “pre-event sabotage” and another commenter wrote that “[They’ll] never understand why they always go cheap on the beds — you guys need rest, recovery, and sleep to perform.” 

How Are Athletes Getting Good Sleep on the Olympic Cardboards Beds? 

Many commenters were suggesting that athletes should purchase their own mattress toppers to go on top of the existing mattresses. Fortunately, Kearns’ team manager was a step ahead of the commenters, buying mattress toppers for the athletes to sleep on. In Kearns’ update video, she said “I’m so grateful, because I was waking up every second hour.” She also revealed that the team manager also bought the athletes a second pillow.

A second update video, where Kearns assembled her new mattress topper, the video is captioned, “our team manager buying us mattress toppers BACK PAIN NO MORE”. After putting the mattress topper on the cardboard bed Kearns remarks that the bed “already feels so much better.”

Are the Cardboard Beds Good For Sleep? 

In theory the beds should be totally fine for the Olympians to sleep on. According to USA Today, the beds are set to accommodate up to 550 pounds (250 kilograms), so athletes should be able to sleep comfortably regardless of their size. Additionally, the beds have been adjusted to support the needs of Paralympic athletes. (1)

However, if athletes aren’t sleeping well, then that’s another story altogether. Sleep is a crucial step in the recovery process. Sleepopolis’s Dr. Shelby Harris has this to say on the importance of sleep for recovery: “Good quality sleep is critical for proper muscle repair, growth, and recovery. In deep sleep, your body releases growth hormones that help grow and repair your muscles. Blood flow to your muscles  is also increased in deep sleep that helps aid in recovery and growth.”