In an effort to ensure the 2020 olympics remain as environmentally conscious as possible, the Tokyo Organizing Committee for Paralympics and Olympics, which is tasked with constructing Olympic Village, has commissioned 18,000 recyclable cardboard bed frames to be used for visiting athletes.
Apparently, the bedframes can withstand up to 440 lbs and are “stronger than wooden beds,” according to Takashi Kitajim, the general manager of the Athletes Village, reports the Associated Press.
“Of course, wood and cardboard would each break if you jumped on them,” clarifies Kitajim, who cautioned athletes against jumping on the bed in any potential gold-medal celebrations.
But Andrew Bogut, a basketball player for the Australian national team, took to Twitter with concerns about athletes being able to celebrate in other ways. “Great gesture,” says Bogut, “until the athletes finish their said events and the 100o’s of condoms handed out all over the village are put to use,” referring to the tradition of distributing condoms to athletes to prevent the spread of STDs.
Great gesture…until the athletes finish their said events and the 1000’s of condoms handed out all over the village are put to use……..🙉🙈 https://t.co/4wzaoDHL34
— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut) January 9, 2020
According to the French media agency AFP, Airweave, the maker of the bed frame has confirmed that the beds have been built to withstand late-night shenanigans, so long as athletes limit the festivities to only two people.
“We’ve conducted experiments, like dropping weights on top of the beds,” said a spokesperson for Airweave, according to AFP. “As long as they stick to just two people in the bed, they should be strong enough to support the load.”
According to Time magazine, the Olympics first began offering condoms at the 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea, during the AIDS epidemic.
“The distribution of condoms continued from there, as tens of thousands of free condoms grew to a height of 450,000 condoms at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. At Sochi in 2014, 100,000 condoms were given out,” according to Time magazine.
The number of condoms per athlete peaked at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, where 2,925 athletes received over 110,00 condoms, reports the news agency. This roughly equated to each athlete receiving, on average, a little more than two condoms per day of the games.
According to the 2010 report “Human Trafficking, Sex Work Safety and the 2010 Games,” the Olympic Association was forced to ban outdoor sex following the 1988 Olympic games because too many of the free condoms were found on the roofs of athletic housing units.
In preparation for the Tokyo games, activists have been working since last year to educate people about the prevalence of human trafficking that happens during high profile events.
“It does exist here [in Japan], it is just that it is not talked about,” said Sarah de Carvalho, founder of the activist group It’s A Penalty, according to Japan Times. “If you educate people who are attending the event about the signs to look out for, and that’s labor as well as sexual exploitation, it is happening everywhere. But unless we talk about it we think it is not happening.”
The news agency reports that the group has “facilitated the rescue of more than 16,800 victims by partnering with police, airlines, sporting bodies and nongovernment organizations during sporting events, including soccer’s 2014 World Cup, 2016 Rio Olympics, and 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.”
The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo begin July 24.