Of all the reveals for accommodations at the 2022 Winter Olympics, perhaps the most anticipated was the bed situation for athletes. Would they be like the infamous cardboard beds at the Tokyo Olympics, drawing jokes that organizers wanted to prevent athlete intimacy (which was later debunked)?
Not only is the answer apparently “no,” but according to American luger Summer Britcher on TikTok, “It’s as if the Beijing Organizing Committee said, ‘How can we just absolutely just one up Tokyo?’”
View social media post: https://www.tiktok.com/@summerbritcher/video/7057859380070419759?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id7042864064230114822
The beds in Beijing feature remote controls and appear much bigger than the beds for the Tokyo Games. They also feature a “zero-g mode,” according to Britcher’s video. That stands for “zero-gravity,” which is a neutral reclining posture developed by NASA for astronauts to equalize their weight prior to takeoff.
“I’m in zero-g mode now,” Britcher said in the TikTok while reclining on the bed. “It’s phenomenal.”
Britcher’s TikTok was the opposite of TikToks from last summer when athletes posted themselves debunking the myth of their not-so-fragile cardboard beds in Tokyo.
SEE MORE: Athletes put their cardboard beds to the test in Tokyo
The beds in Tokyo were actually created with sustainability in mind. In addition to the cardboard beds, the podiums were made of recycled plastics and medals were forged from recycled metal.
SEE MORE: Plastic podiums, recycled medals, cardboard beds part of Tokyo Games’ sustainability plan
Athletes are not the only Olympic guests getting all-star accommodations. Journalists covering the Games have access to 20 high-tech sleep cabins, which feature the same beds that athletes have in their rooms and allow those working to catch a power nap of up to an hour, according to Reuters.
If journalists get hungry on the job, an automated machine will deliver food straight to their work stations from the ceiling.
View social media post: https://twitter.com/LauraScott__/status/1487367587818131457?s=20&t=xumyA4zWnlORKad6KhpK4g
If only these accommodations could be the living standards outside of the Olympic bubble!
