The viral cardboard beds in the Tokyo Olympic Village aren't as hard and uncomfortable as people are making out, a US Olympian says

Recyclable cardboard beds and mattresses for athletes during a media tour at the Olympic and Paralympic Village for the Tokyo 2020 Games, is seen in the Harumi waterfront district of Tokyo on
The beds at the Olympic Village have been widely criticised.
Getty/Akio Kon
  • The viral cardboard beds in the Olympic Village aren't as bad as everyone says.
  • That's according to USA Fencing's Katherine Holmes. 
  • "I don't wake up in the middle of the night in screaming agony," she told Insider. "It's fine."
  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The infamous cardboard beds at the Olympic Village in Tokyo aren't as uncomfortable as many are making out, according to USA Fencing's Katherine Holmes.

A number of athletes at the Games have complained about the beds, which have frames made of cardboard and will be recycled at the end of the summer.

Some outlets reported that the beds were specially designed to only hold the weight of one person in an attempt to stop athletes having sex during the games, a theory that was soon debunked.

Regardless, several athletes have complained that the beds are pretty darn uncomfortable.

US skateboarder Nyjah Huston called them "hard," while New Zealand soccer player Ali Riley joked that you could make one from "Amazon packages."

Sweden's Zecira Musovic said of the beds: "Really good for the environment, will be interesting to see if my back benefit from it as well."

Holmes, who is competing in her second Olympic Games, however, has no complaints.

"I've competed in several games events," the 28-year-old told Insider from the Olympic Village when asked about the beds. "I was in Rio, I've been to two Pan American Games, I've had two World University Games.

"The beds are never super comfortable. You know, it's fine, I don't wake up in the middle of the night in screaming agony.

"It's not the most comfortable bed that I've ever slept on, but it's fine.

"It's kind of funny that they are made from cardboard. They're actually pretty strong. You can bounce on them. It's kind of stupid because if it broke we would have got in trouble, but we bounced on it, and it held up, it was fine."

USA Fencing’s Katherine Holmes says the beds in the Olympic Village in Tokyo aren’t as bad as everyone is saying
Katherine Holmes.
Getty/The Washington Post

Holmes finished 25th overall in the women's épée fencing competition at Rio 2016, while her team fell just short of a medal, finishing fifth.

This time around in Tokyo, the Princeton University graduate says her and her team are gunning for gold. 

"I think a lot has changed since Rio," she said. "Not that I didn't want to win a medal or that wasn't the end goal at Rio, but largely just qualifying and being there was the accomplishment, was the huge goal.

"But I think going into these Games, especially as a team, we won the World Championship in 2018, we won the first ever World Cup, we are ranked number one in the world, so I think in Rio we knew that we could win, but now we really believe.

"The verbs 'know and believe' are really similar, but there is an emotional salience behind 'believe' that really translates into action.

"So I think going into these games, obviously qualifying was a very necessary step and a step towards the end goal, but the goal here is to really win and come back with gold."

Holmes gets her Tokyo campaign underway on Saturday, July 24 when she competes in the first round of the women's individual épée.

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