Athletes take beds apart at Olympic Village and are left shocked by what they find

The Paris Olympics cardboard 'anti-sex' beds have come in for another round of criticism - this time because one of the athletes has taken the mattress apart to see what's inside.

After this latest revelation, we will all be able to better understand why gold medallist Thomas Ceccon was spotted kipping on the floor next to a park bench after moaning that he couldn't get a good night's sleep.

That's because American volleyball player Chiaka Ogbogu has finally given the people what they want - more content about them bizarre cardboard beds which were rumoured to be designed to stop sports stars from having sex.

The truth of the matter is that the unusual structures are able to support up to 440lbs and were introduced by the Olympics as an eco-friendly alternative which will be recycled when the competition wraps up on Sunday (11 August), rather than to stop sports icons from engaging in any rumpy pumpy.

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

There has been a lot of talk - and durability tests shared on social media - about the cardboard bed frames from athletes, but not so much about the mattresses which athletes are hunkering down for the night on.

I'm sure you're wondering how interesting a mattress can be, but put it this way - it prompted screams from a series of stars at this year's Paris Olympics when they finally realised what they had been sleeping on.

Ogbogu shared footage of the moment she and her teammates took a closer look at the contents of their sleeping quarters on TikTok last week, explaining that it isn't memory foam that they're sinking into during their stay in Paris.

The gold medallist captioned the clip, which has since gone viral: "Was I the last to know this info?!!! They weren't lying when they said this is the most sustainable Olympics ever."

She filmed her fellow athletes as they dismantled one of the beds in the Olympic Village while providing some hilarious commentary throughout.

The 29-year-old, from New Jersey, said: "In case y'all are wondering what these beds are actually made of...my mind is blown. It's not a real mattress! It's plastic!"

Olympic organisers have partnered with the high-tech mattress company Airweave, founded by inventor Motokuni Takaoka, for this year's Games, and he is the bloke behind what Ogbogu described as the 'plastic' mattress.

The mattresses use something known as Airfiber technology, which refers to the polyethylene strands which are intricately woven together to create a 'responsive and breathable' filling for athletes to sleep on.

Each mattress is made up of three Airweave mattress blocks, before a snuggly topper is then thrown on for added comfort - and Takaoka has insisted they will provide a perfect night's sleep for someone chasing Olympic glory.

He clearly hasn't seen Australia's water polo star Tilly Kearns' video about her back being on the brink of 'falling off' due to the 'rock solid' mattress, has he.

But anyway, Takaoka claims they are strong enough to withstand the weight of three people.

"I was a marathon runner so I appreciate how important it is to have a good sleep before an event," the mattress mogul said. "They would take two or three people with no worries. They are very robust.

"The cardboard base is very tough. They will cope with anything the athletes want to do with themselves or their friends."

Social media users weren't so sure about the comfort levels of the mattresses after seeing Ogbogu's video though.

One commented: "It looks like the packaging stuff that comes in a package in the mail sometimes."

Another laughed: "It's literally what my dog's outdoor bedding material is made of."

A third added: "Why do they treat it like a summer camp and not like these are OLYMPIANS?"