Could "rock solid" cardboard beds at Olympics impact performance? A sleep expert weighs in.
To complete at the Olympic level in Paris this year, athletes surely need a good night's rest — but that doesn't seem to be the case for some athletes sleeping on the viral cardboard beds in the Olympic village.
The beds, which many have joked are "anti-sex" beds due to the materials used, have actually proven to be quite sturdy — almost too sturdy, it appears, as athletes have taken to social media to show how uncomfortable they apparently are.
Australian water poloist Tilly Kearns posted a video to TikTok earlier this week that showed how rough her first night was in the bed.
"It's actually rock solid," she says in the clip, which has garnered more than 1.1 million likes. "You can flip them over apparently, there's a softer side, but — that was the soft side."
"My back is about to fall off," her roommate chimes in.
"Already had a massage to undo the damage," Kearns captioned the video.
The bed frames, which are made of sturdy cardboard, made their debut at the Tokyo games in 2020 in an effort for sustainability. The mattress, made by Airweave, consist of AirFiber and are meant to be "a luxury firm bed" with three customizable sections that allow athletes to choose the firmness level.
Gymnast Simone Biles confirmed the bed "sucks" in the comment section of another TikTok.
"But we are getting mattress toppers so hopefully it'll get better," Biles added.
Unfavorable conditions could impact an athlete's sleep, recovery and performance, Dr. Carlos M. Nunez, sleep expert and chief medical officer at medical device company ResMed, told CBS News.
"For everyone, sleep is critically important — it's one of the three pillars of health: sleep, diet and exercise," Nunez said. "You can imagine not just the average person, but an elite athlete, an Olympic-level athlete, those three pillars of health, it's sort of what they live by... the way they work out and the way they recover, including sleep, it's critical for them."
While there is a preference factor when it comes to a firmer mattress (and even some benefits depending on what kind of sleeper you are), there is also an adjustment period whenever sleeping in a new bed, Nunez noted — something even non-Olympians can relate to if they've ever stayed somewhere unfamiliar.
"Anytime you change firmness, up, down or whatever, there can be an adjustment period that could lead to things like little backaches and aches and pains and disruption in your sleep," he said. "It may be an amazing, great, expensive mattress, but my body may just be used to a different firmness level, and it may take time."
So, if an athlete is having trouble falling or staying asleep, a mattress topper might help, he said, but if they're able to sleep but wake up a little sore, it may be a matter of allowing the body some time to adjust.
Heat is another potential roadblock for a good night of rest.
Despite experts warning the Paris games could be the hottest Olympics in history, organizers also said no AC would be provided in the Olympic Village.
"(Heat) could be potentially more important, actually, than the discomfort they might deal with the mattresses. We know that the optimal environment for human sleep actually tends to be pretty cool... less than 70 degrees," Nunez said. "A hot summer, a muggy summer especially, and dealing with a mattress that might be uncomfortable to you, you could see athletes, who rely on sleep as an important part of their training, struggle with those two things."
Team USA has confirmed that it will bring its own air conditioning units for American athletes to use in their rooms. Athletes from the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark and Italy are also reportedly installing their own AC systems in the Olympic Village.
"The science usually says you want a very dark, very quiet, very cool environment to unlock the optimal sleep," Nunez said, pointing to another potential problem —noisy air units.
"A portable AC unit is probably not as quiet as a central AC unit, so there's also the noise to consider," he said, but added options like earplugs could help remedy this.
—Duarte Dias contributed to this report.
