Cardboard beds and a cruise ship: Olympic athletes settle in to their new digs

Athletes are giving fans a sneak peek at their new accommodations as they arrive in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

With competition scheduled to get underway Friday, videos are making the rounds on social media of athletes exploring their new digs and testing out their cardboard beds.

The first floating Olympic village

The surfing competition will take place 16,000 kilometres away from Paris, off the southeastern coast of Tahiti in French Polynesia, which means the 48 competing surfers will not stay in the Paris Olympic Village.

The surfers are unlikely to complain about their separate accommodations, however, as they are bunking in the first-ever floating Olympic Village: the Aranui 5 cruise ship, a five-minute ferry ride from the beaches of Teahupo'o, where their competition takes place.

Tokyo 2020 surfing silver medalist Kanoa Igarashi shared a view from his cabin, which includes an over-the-water deck and a queen-sized bed, with the caption, "I think our athlete village in Tahiti is better than the actual one in Paris." 

The ship also has a 24-hour dining hall, a waterslide, an activity centre, a gym and a tattoo parlour.

Cardboard beds

Back in Paris, athletes are flooding TikTok with videos challenging the stability of their cardboard beds.

The beds, similar to those used at the Tokyo 2020 games, were rumoured to be designed in a way that prevented athletes from having sex — although the official explanation was that they are recyclable and therefore environmentally friendly.

That hasn't stopped many, like Irish rugby player Harry McNulty, from testing the anti-sex theory by jumping on top of another Olympian on the bed in a TikTok video.

American rugby player Ilona Maher went a few steps further and had a team of Olympians act out various activities on the bed, from childbirth to dances to gymnastics routines.

It seems the beds are holding up just fine, though Filipino gymnast Aleah Finnegan said they are "not that comfortable."

Hard-fought air conditioning

In another step toward environmental sustainability that was not exactly welcomed with open arms, the Olympic Games attempted to run without air conditioning in the village units.

Architects built a geothermal cooling system that draws water from underground, with facades orientated so they get little direct sun. But this was not enough to satisfy athletes and their team physiologists, despite Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo publicly asking Olympians to "trust the scientists" who designed the system.

Organizers eventually wound up shipping thousands of AC units to the village.

The first Olympic nursery

For some athletes, the Olympics is not a solo trip.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Paris organizers set up what they say is the first Olympic Village nursery to allow athletes to be closer to their children, accommodating parents who are forced to balance competition and child care.

The IOC, which aims to make the 2024 Olympics the first fully gender-equal Games, said it doesn't compile data on how many parents will be competing in Paris, but said it "was seeing good interest in the nursery" ahead of the event.

American Allyson Felix, an 11-time Olympic medalist, told CBS that the nursery represents a "shift in culture" and a move in "the right direction."

Dutch table tennis player Britt Eerland was one of several athletes who resorted to GoFundMe to raise money to make it to the Paris Games, after she gave birth in March 2023.

She wrote on her GoFundMe page, "This campaign aims to show the world that motherhood and elite sports can coexist." 

Flip phones

Every athlete gets a limited-edition Samsung flip phone with Olympic branding on arrival, a tradition continuing from the recent Tokyo and Beijing Olympics.

This has been the source of much delight for athletes — and many, many unboxing videos.

Australian boxer Tina Rahimi posted a TikTok video of the phone with the caption, "I'M OBSESSED."

While the phones might make fun gifts, they may also spare the athletes from unwanted spying.

In 2022, the FBI warned Olympians to leave their personal cellphones at home, citing the potential for "malicious cyber activities" at the Beijing games.