U.S. Wrestling icon Kyle Dake has reached Paris with two days remaining until the opening ceremony. The first thing that the 74kg wrestler did after reaching the Olympic Village was post on his Instagram. However, he didn’t show what the village or his room looked like. Instead, the wrestler focused on something common inside every athlete’s room. The Olympic bronze medalist showed the infamous cardboard bed.

“I feel like If I fall down too hard, I’m gonna break it,” Dake said in his Instagram video. First introduced in Tokyo, the cardboard beds were meant to be a green solution to the intimacy problem between competing athletes. However, nearly all athletes gave the beds horrible reviews for being too uncomfortable. So just to be sure his bead didn’t break, the 33-year-old ran a little test.

“I don’t want to risk it, but I kinda want to risk it,” said the wrestler before jumping on the bed, and landing on his back. Fortunately for Dake, the bed proved to be incredibly sturdy, as it didn’t even buckle under his weight. “It didn’t break,” Dake said with no delay and a blank expression, as if disappointed. Despite being so sturdy, why do eco-friendly beds made with recycled cardboard have such a terrible reputation?

While these beds were designed to avoid intimate encounters between athletes, they didn’t pay attention to comfort. Despite having a modular design, with mattresses of different levels of firmness, the lack of comfort gave a significant hit to the sleep quality of athletes’ during Tokyo. Olympians found it difficult to get a good night’s rest and woke up with back pain even on the softest of mattresses.

Maybe that’s why Dake seemed less excited that the beds passed his fall test. However, Kid Dynamite may not have known that it would take much more than jumping to give these beds a scratch. That’s because these beds are designed to withstand a staggering 550 lbs of pressure. In fact, several athletes have put them through far tougher tests and have not managed to cause damage.

Kyle Dake was one of many athletes who ran special tests

The viral beds have already become a hot topic as athletes can’t stop putting them through the wringer. Like the 4x World Championships gold medalist, athletes continue to post about their experiences. Irish artistic gymnast Rhys McClenaghan “debunked” the anti-intimacy feature in his video. McClenaghan jogged, jumped, dive-bombed, and even did jumping handstands. However, his cardboard bed seemed sturdier than your average wooden bed.

However, these beds are so rigid that Olympians like Kyle Dake are already losing sleep. Australian water polo player Matilda Kearns and her roommate posted a video after their first night sleeping on the cardboard bed. “It’s actually rock solid,” said Kearns, but her roommate had it worse. “My back is about to fall off,” said her fellow athlete.

While Kyle Dake and the others have posted their videos jokingly, it’s clear that the beds are not comfortable. However, good sleep is essential for performance, and every athlete would wish to be at their best when it’s their time to compete.

Top Stories

Update Announced on Josh Allen’s Bills Staying Near Brown University Amid Tragic Incident

Michigan Football Receives Disappointing Kenny Dillingham News on Saturday

Forced to Leave FOX, Cowboys Legend Troy Aikman Says ESPN Is Like ‘U.S. Government’ & Clearly Distinguishes the Two Networks

Army vs Navy: Why is U.S. President Donald Trump Attending the Game?

Who are Fernando Mendoza’s Parents? All about Elsa Mendoza and Fernando Mendoza

$250M Michigan Booster Reveals More to Sherrone Moore Saga After Paige Shiver Confirms Police Visit