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Portugal is not going to let its athletes sleep on a cardboard bed at the Olympics in Paris. The Portuguese team will have their own individual set up that directly goes against plans to reduce impact on the environment.
It is not an uncommon theme for this summer!
Paris made the grand promise of being the “greenest” Games of all-time. There are a lot of different protocols in place to ensure that the environment comes first, but the two most notable are in the Olympic Village. Air conditioning will not exist in the athletes’ rooms and they will be asked to sleep on beds made out of literal cardboard.
Multiple countries have decided to circumvent the initiatives to ensure that their athletes are best set up for success. For example, the United States (and many others) told Paris to kick rocks over its lack of air conditioning and will bring their own units with them to keep the rooms cool during what is expected to be a pretty significant heatwave.
Portugal is doing the same thing with the beds.
All of the 14,250 beds and mattresses across the 54-hectare Olympic Village are fully recyclable. All of the pillows will be donated to various schools and organizations after the conclusion of the Games.
Each bed has three different modules for athletes to pick how firm they want it to be. They can also extend the bed to fit their height.
There was a lot of speculation that the cardboard beds were intended to limit the amount of intercourse in the Olympic Village when they were first used during the pandemic in Tokyo. However, that theory was largely debunked by various international athletes who put the beds to the test.
Regardless of the true reason for their existence, the cardboard beds aren’t going to work for everybody. They aren’t up to the standard that is expected of/from/for elite-level athletes.
Portugal brought its own beds to the Olympics!
Pro skateboarder Gustavo Ribeiro recently gave a tour of his room in Paris on Instagram.
It’s a pretty standard dorm-style suite.
— – (@Spicoli_____) July 22, 2024
The beds are the big difference between Portugal and other countries. While most athletes sleep on cardboard, the Portuguese will be sleeping on luxurious custom beds.
— – (@Spicoli_____) July 22, 2024
Portugal is not the only team to do this. However, it is the largest country to do this!
As of right now, the United States has not supplied its athletes with their own beds. It will be interesting to see how the teams perform based on sleeping arrangement.