• With the 2026 Winter Olympics approaching, fans are once again wondering whether athletes will be stuck with the infamous “anti-sex” cardboard beds in the Olympic Village.
  • Team GB ice dancer Phebe Bekker shared a TikTok tour of the Milan Olympic Village, confirming that the beds this time are not cardboard.
  • The cardboard beds first went viral at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The 2026 Winter Olympics is right around the corner, and while you likely have a lot of questions (like, will Lindsey Vonn be able to compete after tearing her ACL? Will Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté be able to use his Minions music? Will Kim Meylemans or Nicole Silveira be the one to take home the gold?), the most pressing question may be: Will athletes be sleeping on those “anti-sex” beds in the Milan Olympic Village?

Ahead of the opening ceremonies, Team GB ice dancer Phebe Bekker took to TikTok to share a tour of this year’s Olympic Village…and thankfully, it seems there are no cardboard beds in sight. After knocking on the bed to show its sturdiness, Phebe quipped, “'Heard it here first: there are no cardboard beds. Well, as far as I know.”

As a reminder: The viral cardboard beds first appeared during the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo (which actually took place in 2021). Rumors quickly spread that the beds had been designed to keep athletes from having sex during the height of the COVID pandemic, and they were dubbed the “anti-sex” beds.

However, this theory was later debunked. According to The New York Times, the cardboard beds (which were manufactured by the Japanese company Airweave and made to hold up to 440 pounds) were actually ordered before the pandemic began in March 2020. And as it turns out, the eco-friendly option was surprisingly strong (as evidenced by that video of Olympic gymnast Rhys McClenaghan jumping on his bed.

Still, that didn’t mean the cardboard beds were particularly comfy. Athletes were thrilled when the “anti-sex” beds were replaced with adjustable “smart beds” at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing…but then cardboard beds made a comeback at the 2024 Paris Olympics (where, once again, Rhys proved that the beds could withstand certain activities).

Anyhoo, thanks to Phebe, we can rest easy knowing our fave Olympians aren’t sleeping on cardboard during the Winter Games.