Lydia Jacoby reflects on her experience with 2020 Tokyo cardboard beds while athletes react to newest versions
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - In the days leading up to the Summer Olympics, athletes in Paris have been talking about the viral cardboard beds assigned to them in the Olympic Village.
The beds, introduced in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, were designed to be a more sustainable option for housing the hundreds of athletes that house the Olympic villages. The beds are made by Japanese bedding company Airweave.
Three years after their initial debut, the cardboard beds are back for the Paris Olympics and they’ve been getting mixed reactions from athletes testing them out.
Great Britain diver Tom Daley tested the new cardboard beds in a viral Instagram video, essentially debunking a myth that the beds were implemented to prevent athletes from having relations with one another.
Alaskan swimmer Lydia Jacoby attended the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won a shocking gold in the 100-meter breaststroke. She competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials this summer in Indianapolis and came up just short of what she needed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Looking back on her 2021 experience, Jacoby remembered the Olympic Village. While Covid-19 restrictions provided a unique — sometimes isolating — experience, one thing was the same: the cardboard beds.
“Honestly, it’s just a bed frame, so if the mattress was good, I feel like it wouldn’t be a problem,” Jacoby said. “It was like cardboard blocks ... It was a super awful mattress. I remember the first time I got there, I cried because it was so awful.”
Jacoby said that she saw athletes from Team USA using mattress toppers to make the experience a little bit more comfortable. She said that she’d been following the sustainable efforts made by the Paris government to create a more sustainable village, but wasn’t sure if those efforts would pay off in the end.
“I think it’s a little tough that they decided to go no [air conditioning],” Jacoby said. “I know the U.S. — and I know there’s some other big teams — that are bringing A.C. units, so it kind of defeats the purpose anyways ... It’s a bummer that’s just like one more advantage over smaller countries.”
The organizing committee for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games responded to athlete’s complaints about the cardboard beds in an email to TODAY.
“The choice of these beds for the Olympic and Paralympic Village is primarily linked to our ambition to ensure minimal environmental impact and a second life for all equipment used during the short period of the Games,” the organization wrote. “The quality of the furniture has been rigorously tested to ensure it is robust, comfortable, and appropriate for all the athletes who will use it, and who span a very broad range of body types. Also, Airweaves’ offer is not standardized, and each athlete can choose the firmness of their mattresses, as well as customize them to their morphology.”
While Jacoby might not be missing the beds, she is missing the atmosphere of the village.
“I’m interested to hear what it will be like this year,” Jacoby said. “Obviously I’m bummed I won’t be competing, but that is just the most amazing part of the Olympics is just being a part of that village around all those amazing athletes.”
Jacoby will be continuing school at the University of Texas this coming fall. She took the rest of the summer off from swimming after the trials in order to have a little more fun. She said that she’s doing well and will update Alaskans when she gets back in the pool.
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