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The Olympic village in Tokyo: sturdy cardboard beds
Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa
In the USA, a report about alleged "anti-sex beds" in the Olympic village caused a stir, an Irish gymnast has now got to the bottom of it.
Although the beds of the Olympic athletes in Tokyo are actually made of cardboard, Rhys McClenaghan said in a Twitter video.
However, the claim that the beds would break with every "sudden movement" was "false news".
McClenaghan hopped on his bed to prove it.
Even the official Twitter channel of the Olympic Games picked up the video and thanked the Irishman for having refuted the "myth" about the cardboard beds.
"The sustainable beds are stable," it said.
The tabloid “New York Post” had previously reported that the cardboard Olympic beds were used to enforce the distance rules applicable to athletes and to prevent “intimacies” between the athletes.
The report was based on an ironic contribution by US runner Paul Chelimo, who tweeted that the Olympic beds would only hold one person's weight "to prevent non-sporting situations."
Because of the corona pandemic, strict distance and hygiene rules apply to Olympic athletes.
Spectators are not permitted at the competition venues.
The athletes are called upon to »avoid unnecessary forms of physical contact«.
There are still condoms
Nevertheless, the organizers want to distribute a total of around 160,000 condoms to the athletes, but only when they leave.
The athletes should take the condoms with them to their countries and advertise anti-HIV campaigns.
The Corona Olympic Games starting on Friday are highly controversial in Japan.
In surveys, a majority of the Japanese population voted in favor of canceling or postponing the competitions.
Originally, the games should have taken place in summer 2020, at that time they had been postponed.
The organizers of the games emphasized again that the Olympic village was a "safe" place.
Several corona cases had previously become known in the Olympic village, including two South African footballers and, on Monday, a Czech volleyball player.
According to Olympic spokesman Masa Takaya, more than 60 corona infections have already been identified in connection with the Games.
hba / AFP
