The ‘anti-sex’ beds to stop Paris Olympic athletes jumping into sack – but will they work?

Emma Guinness
·2 min read

“Anti-sex” beds have been installed at the Olympic Village in Paris ahead of the 2024 games to put a halt to the wild sexual liaisons reported at past competitions.

The beds are made with recyclable materials, which will make sexual relations tricky should athletes consider hop, skip and jumping into the sack together.

However, despite the beds having this unusual function, Inside the Games has claimed the primary reason for making them in this way is sustainability.

“I hope that Paris 2024’s efforts to reduce its impact will show that it is possible to do things differently,” Georgina Grenon, director of environmental excellence for the organizing committee, said.

The beds, which are made from completely recyclable mattresses and cardboard frames, may be familiar to competitors who participated in the Tokyo Olympics having been rolled out in 2020.

There have been extensive reports of wild sex at previous Olympic Games.

The 2024 Olympics has so-called ‘anti-sex’ beds (Getty Images)
The 2024 Olympics has so-called ‘anti-sex’ beds (Getty Images)

Ex table tennis player Matthew Syed told The Times that he got “laid” “more often in those two and a half weeks than in the rest of my life” in reference to the 1992 games in Barcelona.

However, he did admit that it was only twice but described it as a “miracle” for this then-21-year-old self.

Meanwhile, at least one foursome is reported to have taken place at the London 2012 Olympics between two male and two female athletes, the Mirror reported of the “sex-mad Olympic Village”.

The effectiveness of the beds has already been questioned (Getty Images)
The effectiveness of the beds has already been questioned (Getty Images)

“I’ve seen people having sex right out in the open,” one athlete is reported to have said. “On the grass, between buildings, people are getting down and dirty.”

Because of the importance of sex at the competition, former long jump athlete Susen Tiedtke believes that any attempts to curb it will be futile.

“[The ban] is a big laughing stock for me, it doesn’t work at all. Sex is always an issue in the village,” she told Bild. “The athletes are at their physical peak at the Olympics. When the competition is over, they want to release their energy.”